Türkiye on Saturday strongly criticized the recent U.S. decision to lift the arms embargo on the Greek Cypriot administration, scheduled to take effect from September 2024.
The ministry opposed in a statement, “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 1 October 2023.”
Türkiye affirmed its complete support for the justified response of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), it added.
“We would like to take this opportunity to remind you 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 UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.
Türkiye fully backs a two-state solution for the island of Cyprus, one that hinges on the principles of sovereign equality and equal international status for its two constituent states.
By Breaking News Turkey with AA