Prime Minister Üstel criticises the Greek Cypriot Administration-France defence agreement
9 June, 2026
On 8 June 2026, a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) was signed between France and the Greek Cypriot administration of Southern Cyprus. In addition to providing for the deployment of French military elements on our island, the agreement encompasses matters such as technology sharing in the military field, the conduct of joint military exercises, military training activities, provision of military equipment to military facilities and the enhancement of industrial cooperation on the field of defence between France and the Greek Cypriot administration.
These and similar initiatives, pursued under the guise of humanitarian objectives but in reality aimed at securing military gains and strategic advantages, while disregarding the inherent sovereign equal rights of the Turkish Cypriot people, constitute an attempt to undermine the delicate balance underpinning the security and stability of our island and the wider region. It should be noted that such initiatives are null and void by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriot People. These developments in question not only reaffirm the vital importance of the effective and actual guarantee of the Republic of Türkiye, which remains the cornerstone of the security of the Turkish Cypriot People, but also further underline the need to strengthen our cooperation with our Motherland Türkiye in the field of defence and security.
The Greek Cypriot leadership’s continued insistence on the condition of “zero troops, zero guarantees” in the context of a prospective agreement to the Cyprus issue, while at the same time entering into military cooperation and armament agreements with various states- including countries that do not even have a coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean- and facilitating the deployment of foreign military elements on our island and enabling our island to be used as a base for various military purposes, is a clear indication of Greek Cypriot leadership’s insincerity. It is abundantly clear that such provocative steps serve only to further deepen the mistrust between the two Peoples on the island.
The Greek Cypriot leadership continues to demonstrate its true intentions by systematically disregarding the inherent rights of the Turkish Cypriot People and pursuing unilateral steps that create faits accomplis on the island. It is absolutely unacceptable for the Greek Cypriot administration, which has no authority or legitimacy to represent either the Turkish Cypriot People or the island of Cyprus as a whole, to enter into unilateral agreements on matters concerning the entire island.
The Greek Cypriot leadership must immediately refrain from taking steps that risk turning not only our island but also our region into a potential target.
Needless to say, countries such as France which engage in unilateral initiatives with the Greek Cypriot administration while disregarding the existing realities on the island and the inherent sovereign equal rights of the Turkish Cypriot People, continue to undermine the prospects for cooperation and dialogue between the two States on the Island.
We also call on France, which has no place in the order of security and stability established in the Eastern Mediterranean following the 1974 Peace Operation, to put an end to its initiatives that are detrimental to our region.