Gulf state protest after tourists attacked: Cyprus

Cyprus said it received a diplomatic protest from an unnamed Arab Gulf state after tourists were attacked during anti-migrant violence in the island’s second city Limassol.

“I received a demarche from an ambassador of an Arab country,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs permanent secretary Kyriakos Kouros posted on the X platform, formerly Twitter, on Sunday.

“A number of its citizens, innocent visitors to our country, were among the victims of the incidents in Limassol, one quite seriously.

“They cut short the holidays to leave in a hurry, scared! I doubt they will ever come back.”

Kouros posted a photograph on X of a group at the airport.

One sat in a wheelchair and had a bandaged forearm.

Police in the Mediterranean island said they arrested 13 people after protesters injured five foreigners and smashed some foreign-owned shops on the Limassol seafront on Friday evening.

According to witness accounts posted on social media, among those assaulted were a group of visitors from Kuwait.

English language daily Cyprus Mail reported that a Kuwaiti tourist was among those listed as injured during the violence in Limassol.

During the unrest, trash bins were also set alight and some black-hooded protesters held a banner that read “Refugees not welcome”.

Kouros said that in his time as a veteran diplomat, he never felt so “embarrassed” about an incident in Cyprus.

“We should not have allowed it to develop into something so hideous.

“And even worse, when they return to their country, I wonder what they will say about us and our culture that we have so loudly promoted all these years as a tourist destination characterised by our timeless kindness, culture and innate hospitality.”