United States greenlit arms purchase for Greek Cypriots in the divided island of Cyprus, in a move that drew Türkiye's ire, the main supporter of the island's Turkish Cypriot community.
The Biden administration extended Friday its decision to lift the U.S. arms embargo on the Greek Cypriot administration through September 2024. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has notified Congress "that the Republic of Cyprus has met the necessary conditions under applicable legislation to allow the Department to approve exports, re-exports, and transfers of defense articles to the Republic of Cyprus for fiscal year (FY) 2024," the State Department said in a statement.
"As a result of this determination and certification, the Secretary lifted the defense trade restrictions for the Republic of Cyprus for FY 2024," it said. The authorization is the second consecutive year in which Blinken has lent the U.S. sign-off to arms transfers to Nicosia.
Türkiye on Saturday condemned the decision. "Following the decision of the United States to lift the arms embargo against the Greek Cypriot Administration in September 2020 and the expansion of the scope of the said decision in 2022, we condemn that the U.S. has now extended that decision’s duration for one year as of Oct.1, 2023," the ministry said in a statement.
Türkiye fully supports the justified reaction of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), it added. "We would like to take this opportunity to remind that together with the TRNC, we have repeatedly pointed out how the various destabilizing steps recently taken by the U.S. in the region at the expense of the Turkish Cypriot side undermine the neutral position on the Island of Cyprus which this country has maintained for many years, and constitute an obstacle to reaching a just, lasting and sustainable settlement of the Cyprus issue.
"We invite the U.S. yet again to reconsider these policies that put the stability in the region at risk," the statement read.
Türkiye, as a guarantor state, will always continue to ensure the existence, security and peace of the Turkish Cypriots within the framework of its historical and legal responsibilities, it added.
Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. to achieve a comprehensive settlement.
Türkiye fully supports a two-state solution on the island of Cyprus based on sovereign equality and equal international status between its two states. In 1974, Türkiye launched a "Peace Operation" to aid Turkish Cypriots who faced attacks by the Greek Cypriot community's administration backed by a military junta in Greece.
The operation helped stabilize tensions that prevailed in the past decades and restored relative peace on the island. Yet, TRNC was shunned by the international community in the ensuing decades while Greek Cypriots, with the support of the West, gained international recognition under the name of the Republic of Cyprus.
Türkiye is concerned about a renewal of hostilities on the island if arms supplies continue. The United States, despite being a close ally of Türkiye, frequently irks Ankara for its support to Greece and Greek Cypriots while ignoring the security concerns of the country. Türkiye also opposes the "militarization" of the Aegean islands of Greece close to the Turkish coast with the aid of the United States.
