Mehmet Akif Avenue, Main entertainment avenue in North Nicosia, Cyprus.

Mehmet Akif Avenue is a main thoroughfare in North Nicosia running roughly 1600 meters parallel to the Pedieos River. International clothing stores, restaurants, and cafes line the full length of the street.

During the British colonial period, this street was called Shakespeare Avenue and included an elevated road named Irish Bridge that crossed the river. The avenue later received its current name.

The avenue is used for demonstrations and gatherings, and a section of the Nicosia Marathon runs along it. Festivities are also held there from time to time. The Medoş tulip sculpture, honouring a tulip endemic to Cyprus, was unveiled on the avenue during Kutlay Erk's term as mayor.

The avenue runs about 1,500–1,600 metres on a northwest–south axis, ending at the Green Line, and has two lanes. Bus stops were installed by 2016, though their placement drew criticism. Parking is limited: around 140 spaces along the road, with a 250-car car park announced in 2015 next to the river.

The avenue was known as "Shakespeare Avenue" under British rule, and older generations called it "dere boyundaki cadde" ("the avenue along the river") because it follows the Pedieos. The Cyprus Government Railway from Morphou to Nicosia once ran through it; the track was dismantled in 1952, leaving a steel bridge and a strip of land later turned into a park.