Northern Cyprus decries inclusion of Greek Cypriot administration in US military partnership program

By Fuat Kabakci and Muhammet Ikbal Arslan

LEFKOSA, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (AA) – The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on Monday decried a US move to include the Greek Cypriot administration in a Pentagon military partnership program.

The TRNC can “never accept the support and encouragement of the Greek Cypriot administration by the US administration in the military and political arena," the country’s Foreign Ministry said in a written statement.

Last Friday, the US announced that under the Defense Department National Guard’s State Partnership Program, the Greek Cypriot administration has been paired with the National Guard in the US state of New Jersey.

With the move, Washington, which on Sept. 16 lifted an arms embargo on the Greek Cypriot administration that had been in force since 1987, continues its provocative attitude towards the TRNC and Türkiye, it said.

“This declaration of cooperation in the field of defense after lifting of the arms embargo has no other purpose than to escalate the tension on the island and in the region.”

-‘Unfriendly, unbalanced’

The US teaming up with Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration shows an unfriendly approach towards both the TRNC and Türkiye, it stressed.

It added that following the move, Turkish and Turkish Cypriot authorities announced that they will resolutely take necessary steps to protect the security of Türkiye and the rights of the Turkish Cypriot people in the face of US moves in favor of the Greek Cypriot administration and Greece.

The TRNC and Türkiye cannot be bystanders to these developments, it said.

The statement also underlined that as it has become clear that the US intends to distance itself from the TRNC and Türkiye and change the already fragile balances in favor of the Greek Cypriot side and Greece, Northern Cyprus urges the US administration to instead act with common sense.

“As we always reiterate, such events are further proof of how justified and indispensable Türkiye’s effective and de facto guarantor (role) on the island is,” said the statement.

Türkiye has also recently protested the establishment of new US military bases in Greece as well as Athens sending US military equipment to Aegean islands that are demilitarized under longstanding treaties.

-Decades-long dispute

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was founded in 1983.

It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece, and the UK.

The Greek Cypriot administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots single-handedly blocked a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.