Cyprus Intelligence Service

Cyprus Intelligence Service
Κυπριακή Υπηρεσία Πληροφοριών
Agency overview
Formed1970; 54 years ago (1970)
as the Central Intelligence Service
JurisdictionRepublic of Cyprus
HeadquartersNicosia, Cyprus
EmployeesClassified
Agency executives
  • Tasos Tzionis, Chief of the Cyprus Intelligence Service
  • Panikos Stavrou, Deputy Chief of the Cyprus Intelligence Service
Footnotes
Made in 1970, only given legal stature in 2016 [1]

The Central Intelligence Service (CIS, KYP) is the intelligence-gathering body of Cyprus. It was reorganised and given official status by a 14 April 2016 Parliamentary bill. The CIS was initially founded in 1970 by President Archbishop Makarios.[2] The new Independent Authority was renamed "Cyprus Intelligence Service" and is responsible for internal and external national security, i.e. a Cypriot combination of MI5 and MI6.

Since 4 May 2016, the Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades has been expected to appoint (Presidential proposal appointment by Council of Ministers) the director of the new CIS and the two sub-commanders under the new legislation (Article 7). The new law, N. 75(I) of 2016, was published in the official journal on 4 May 2016 and entered into force immediately. No appointments have been made to implement the new law. The decision was taken to continue with the old structure of the service until the necessary regulations required by the new law are enacted and also the prospect of a solution of the Cyprus Problem played a role for this decision.

Before the entry into force of the new law and until today, the political director has been Ambassador Kyriakos Kouros and the director Marios Christofides, who is a senior police officer. The rest of the members are either police officers or members of the Cyprus National Guard placed in the CIS Headquarters in Ayios Andreas, Nicosia.

Under the new law, the CIS will be able to have its own employees either as permanent members of the intelligence services or under contract and even be able to buy services from the private sector. Its budget will be confidential and under the control of the new director.

The new CIS Law contains 35 Articles and enacts the Cyprus Intelligence Service as an independent authority liable to the President of the Republic, currently Nikolaos Chrysanthou Anastasiades (2013-2018), and the Council of Ministers.

The current head of KYP is Tasos Tzionis, who replaced Kyriacos Kouros on June 1, 2023, with the deputy chief being Panikos Stavrou.[3][4]

The head of the Intelligence Service will also serve as an advisor to the National Security Council (And also co-ordinator), which was formed in 2023.[5]

  1. ^ "Ο περί της Κυπριακής Υπηρεσίας Πληροφοριών (ΚΥΠ) Νόμος του 2016 - 75(I)/2016".
  2. ^ Anastasiou, Angelos (April 15, 2016). "After 46 years, intelligence service gets legal stature". Cyprus Mail. Archived from the original on 19 December 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  3. ^ "Αλλαγή σκυτάλης στην ΚΥΠ – Ποιοι αναλαμβάνουν Διοικητής και Υποδιοικητής". tothemaonline.com (in Greek). Retrieved 2023-06-01.
  4. ^ Δημητριάδη, Ραφαέλα (2023-06-01). "Σε εποχή Τζιωνή από σήμερα η ΚΥΠ". Φιλελεύθερος | Philenews (in Greek). Retrieved 2023-06-01.
  5. ^ SigmaLive (2023-06-01). "O διπλωμάτης Τάσος Τζιωνής αναλαμβάνει νέος Διοικητής της ΚΥΠ | News". www.sigmalive.com. Retrieved 2023-06-01.