The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on Tuesday warned that the U.S. sending warships to the Greek Cypriot administration in the south would “serve no purpose other than increasing tensions” in the divided island.
“The military cooperation between the U.S. and Greek Cyprus is intended to be used by the Greek Cypriot administration as an element of threat against our country,” the TRNC’s Foreign Ministry said.
The statement came after two guided missile destroyers, the USS Arleigh Burke and the USS Roosevelt, of the U.S. 6th Fleet operating in the Eastern Mediterranean reached Limassol Port in the GASC on Saturday.
It underlined that the TRNC “will not refrain from taking all necessary steps” together with Türkiye to ensure the security of the Turkish Cypriot people.
The ministry recalled that the U.S. lifted an arms embargo imposed on the Greek Cypriot administration two years ago and said the U.S. Navy’s continuing to send warships to the island “serves no other purpose than increasing tension.”
The island of Cyprus has been mired in a decadeslong dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots despite a series of diplomatic efforts 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 TRNC was founded in 1983. July 20, the anniversary of the operation, is celebrated yearly in the TRNC as Peace and Freedom Day.
The Greek Cypriot administration was admitted to the European Union in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots thwarted a U.N. plan to end the longstanding dispute.
Türkiye fully supports a two-state solution on the island of Cyprus based on sovereign equality and equal international status.
Turkish Cypriots have been alarmed by heightened military activity in the south, especially amid the Palestine-Israel conflict.
Following reports that British and U.S. bases on the island support Israel’s attacks on Gaza, TRNC President Ersin Tatar accused the Greek Cypriot administration of endangering the island’s 50-year peace period by becoming a logistical base serving Western interests.
Britain has two bases in Cyprus, considered independent territories, allowing it to maintain a permanent military presence in the Eastern Mediterranean and conduct highly confidential military and intelligence activities. The bases host an extensive network of British and U.S. intelligence facilities, according to Declassified U.K., which reports on the work of military and intelligence agencies.
Türkiye, too, has recently hit out attempts by the Greek Cypriot administration to build a naval base on the southeastern coast in collaboration with Greece.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned Ankara would not shy away from constructing naval bases or other maritime structures in Northern Cyprus if this proves “necessary.”
Mentioning that Türkiye has been building a parliament and presidency building in the TRNC, Erdoğan said: “They (the Greek Cypriot side) are building a military base; we are establishing a political presence.”
Erdoğan also urged against moves escalating tensions in Cyprus, adding that “complicity in massacres in Israel would serve neither Greek Cypriots nor Greece.”
