Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the TRNC regarding the signing of a Roadmap for Bilateral Defense Cooperation between the United States of America and the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus

The United States Department of Defense announced on 10 September 2024 that a Roadmap for Bilateral Defense Cooperation was signed between the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus and the United States of America (USA).

It was stated that this agreement, which is the latest example of the increasing support being lent by the USA to the Greek Cypriot side, encompasses elements of potential cooperation that can be established between the two sides regarding basic security concerns. The issue of enhancing interoperability between the military forces of the two sides marks the most striking element of the aforesaid roadmap.

The “port visits” of US Navy warships to the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus; the steps taken to further the “strategic partnership” between the two sides; and the annual renewal of the decision to lift the US arms embargo imposed on the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus are concrete signs of the biased support that the USA has recently been affording to the Greek Cypriot side. We have underlined on numerous occasions that this dangerous support constitutes a threat at the expense of jeopardizing balances in the Eastern Mediterranean region, where Cyprus is situated. The USA prefers to perpetuate its biased support to the Greek Cypriot side at all costs.

We invite the USA, whom we now see as a clearly partial side regarding the Cyprus issue, to act with common sense; to end its efforts to disrupt the delicate balances in the region and to end its biased stance on this issue.

In the face of all these developments, we would like to express that we stand prepared against any threat that may be posed against the Turkish Cypriot people and that we reserve the right to take the necessary steps together with Motherland Türkiye.