Erdogan hints at creation of new military base in north

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan implied on Friday that a military base like the drone base in Lefkoniko could be established in Karpasia, reports from the north said.

Asked about a potential military base in Karpasia on his return from the European Political Community meeting in Prague, Erdogan said: “It is our right. Because we need to secure Northern Cyprus from all sides, in every aspect.”

He added that first they placed the drone base out of the military airport in Lefkoniko, and that something similar could be done in Karpasia.

In 2019, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), both unarmed and armed, started to take off from Lefkoniko Airport on December 16, the privately-held Demiroren news agency reported.

Efforts to base them had taken some time, it said, adding that a team of experts from Ankara considered the commercial airport a suitable option.

In further comments on his brief encounter with President Nicos Anastasiades at the EU summit in Prague, Erodgan brushed it off saying: “I told him, you are leaving in two months anyway. We can’t discuss things in that amount of time.”

Erdogan added that Anastasiades gets his orders from others, and that these orders cannot stand.   

Commenting on a Cyprus solution, Erdogan said that the reality of the situation on the island needs to be accepted before moving forward.

In statement’s he made at the meeting, during the sessions he attended, Erdogan said that Turkey does not lay eyes on the territories of any country.

“However, we see that some member states of the Union are escalating tensions with Turkey instead of cooperation and good neighbourliness,” he added.

Regarding Cyprus, he said: “We are only fighting to protect the interests of our country and the Turkish Cypriots. We don’t want tension with anyone, with any of our neighbours.”