The north’s ‘foreign ministry’ on Thursday described the United States’ decision to allow the Republic of Cyprus to purchase military hardware directly as “tragicomic”.
“The Greek Cypriot administration in southern Cyprus claims that it is acting on the grounds that it is the victim on this island regarding the armament activities which have already reached their peak, and that it is under a threat to its safety,” it said.
However, it added, “it was the Greek Cypriot side which turned the island of Cyprus into a bloodbath between 1963 and 1974.
“Although the international community tried to cover up this cruelty committed by the Greek Cypriot side against the Turkish Cypriot people by calling it an ‘intercommunal conflict’, the suffering which took place is preserved in the memory of the Turkish Cypriot people.”
It added that Turkey “stopped the bloodshed on the island” in 1974 and that the country is “the sole guarantee of peace and tranquillity in the region”.
“Therefore, the claim the Greek Cypriot side makes, that it is under some form of threat to its security, is unconvincing,” it said.
“After this decision taken by the US, it is clear that the Greek Cypriot administration will continue this arms race as if it were preparing for war.
“It is extremely unfortunate that the warnings we have repeatedly made to all relevant parties regarding the dangerous situation that the Greek Cypriot side’s military activities could create in the region have not been heeded,” it said.
It therefore said it “calls on the countries which are facilitating the Greek Cypriot side’s warmongering to act once again by calculating the consequences of their actions, and to be sensible.
“It will not serve anyone’s interests for the delicate balances on this island and in the region to be negatively affected.”
US President Joe Biden had issued a Presidential determination on Wednesday night which incorporated the Republic of Cyprus into three programmes run by the US department of defence.
Those are the US defence security cooperation agency’s foreign military sales (FMS) programme, its excess defence articles (EDA) programme, and programmes to allocate resources under the US’ ‘Title 10’ security assistance provisions.
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