The French government is on Monday expected to sign a status of forces agreement on Monday, allowing it to station troops in Cyprus, according to reports published on Sunday.
The Cyprus News Agency reported that the agreement is to be signed by French Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin and Cypriot Defence Minister Vasilis Palmas in Nicosia, with both set to attend the informal European foreign affairs council (Fac) meeting in its defence configuration in Cyprus’ capital on the same day.
Plans for a status of forces agreement had been announced by Cypriot government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis when French President Emmanuel Macron most recently visited the island in April.
Letymbiotis had said at the time that the agreement will “strengthen humanitarian military cooperation and joint action at a regional level”, and “provide for the presence of French forces on Cypriot territory for humanitarian purposes”.
Macron had spoken at length on the matter of defence during his visit to Cyprus, saying that the mass deployment of European military hardware in and around Cyprus after the island was hit by an Iranian-made drone in March, “constituted a reaffirmation of our determination to secure Europe’s space”.
“I said it in a simple way on March 9, that when Cyprus was attacked, it was Europe which was attacked,” he said.
As such, he said, “we therefore reinforced defence capabilities in the region with the deployment of military assets, in particular with the French carrier strike group” belonging to the aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle, which has been in the region since last month.
“This support and this concrete manifestation of the solidarity which links us as members of the European Union, and in terms of relations between France and Cyprus, was bolstered in December in the form of the strategic partnership,” he said, referring to the deal he had signed with President Nikos Christodoulides in Paris at the end of last year.
However, the plans have not proved universally popular in the region, with Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel having lambasted the planned agreement as “extremely dangerous, provocative, and an unacceptable step”.
He said the plans “are likely to seriously damage the atmosphere of peace and tranquillity on the island”, and that Christodoulides and “people of his mindset” speak “on the one hand … of a new negotiation process, while on the other ignoring and disregarding the Turkish Cypriot people”.
“This contradictory stance clearly reveals his true intentions,” he said.
He then added that “any military presence or action in Cyprus requires the consent and approval of the Turkish Cypriot people”, and that “any action taken without this approval is null and void under international law”.
“France, known for its exploitative approach to almost every country it enters, can only offer the Greek Cypriots great disappointment in the long run,” he added, before saying that “France, as an EU member state, poses one of the biggest obstacles to a fair and lasting solution in Cyprus with its attempts to deploy troops to the island”.
He went on to say that “what is expected from Macron and from the EU is that they abandon their colonial mindset regarding the Cyprus issue and adopt a fair stance”, before warning that “steps taken, and those intended to be taken, which disregard the Turkish Cypriots will inevitably receive the necessary response”.
“You are transforming southern Cyprus into a base for foreign soldiers and a sphere of influence for foreign powers. The consequences of this policy will neither benefit you, nor the Greek Cypriot people. My advice is to abandon these dangerous steps, which will jeopardise your future, as soon as possible,” he said.
“Otherwise, you will be the one who loses again.”
Likewise, Turkey’s ruling AK Party’s spokesman Omer Celik said that “France’s assessments and actions in the entire region, from the Sahel to the Mediterranean, have been repeatedly demonstrated as flawed over the past few years”.
“It would be in everyone’s best interest for France to abandon these approaches and to address its alliance with Turkey on a realistic basis,” he said.
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