Cypriot president hospitalised in Brussels

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades was taken to hospital Thursday for the second time after suffering nose bleeding caused by high blood pressure, a government statement said.

Anastasiades was initially given hospital treatment for a nose bleed in the morning and was advised to stay in bed for 48 hours.

He suspended his participation in the European Council meeting and returned to hospital to rest, but in the afternoon he was again taken to a specialised otolaryngology hospital where he received "specialised treatment", Xinhua quoted a government statement as saying.

"The President of the Republic is well in his health but for purely precautionary reasons, he opted to stay in hospital for the night," the statement said.

Anastasiades flew to Brussels Wednesday night to ask the EU summit to denounce alleged Turkish violations of Cyprus' exclusive economic zone where so-called "illegal" exploratory drilling is underway for natural gas.

According to reports, Turkish naval ships are patrolling the drilling area, keeping watch over a drilling ship exploring on behalf of the Italian-South Korean consortium ENI-KOGAS. The ships are also providing protection to a Turkish seismic data ship surveying the sea floor for hydrocarbon deposits.