The United States and the Greek Cypriot administration approved a roadmap for enhancing defense cooperation on Monday.

The agreement was signed by the administration’s Defense Minister Vassilis Palmas and U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Celeste Wallander at a ceremony in Nicosia (Lefkoşa), according to Greek daily Kathimerini.

"This roadmap represents a strong commitment to further enhancing and deepening our relationship," said Palmas.

Wallander hailed it as a milestone in bilateral relations, the daily added.

In September 2022, the U.S. lifted an arms embargo on the Greek Cypriot administration that had been in force since 1987.

The next month, the U.S. also announced that under the Defense Department National Guard’s State Partnership Program, the Greek Cypriot administration had been paired with the National Guard in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

Both moves were strongly criticized by Türkiye and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

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.

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 U.K.

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