17,000 Russians apply for consular service at north office

A total of 17,000 Russian nationals have applied for consular services at the office in northern Nicosia which provides those services , the country’s ambassador in Nicosia Murat Zyazikov said on Saturday.

“Previously, they had to travel to other countries, or, after overcoming significant difficulties, cross the dividing line which divides Cyprus into two parts,” he told Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda .

He added that before Russia’s office, which is