TRNC premier slams Israel-Greece-Cyprus military talks

(MENAFN) The prime minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) criticized a trilateral summit between Israel, Greece, and the Greek Cypriot Administration, cautioning that developing military cooperation could heighten tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean.

In a statement regarding Monday’s Jerusalem meeting, Unal Ustel said the summit “signaled a move toward confrontation rather than peace, stability, and cooperation in the region.” He added that the TRNC is closely monitoring the summit and reports on plans for a joint military force.

Ustel described proposals to form a 2,500-strong “rapid intervention force,” reportedly aimed at deterring Türkiye and Turkish Cypriots, as “a new and dangerous threat” to regional peace.

“Israel, which tramples on humanitarian values through its aggressive policies in the Middle East, is now seeking to carry this instability into the Eastern Mediterranean,” he said. “Efforts to transform the region from a zone of peace into an arena of conflict threaten not only the island of Cyprus but the entire Mediterranean basin.”

He criticized Greece and the Greek Cypriot Administration for engaging in what he called a “dangerous game,” calling it a historic miscalculation. He also accused the Greek Cypriot leadership of presenting itself internationally as supportive of a settlement while pursuing military alliances aimed at Türkiye. “This hypocritical approach clearly demonstrates how detached they are from the realities on the island,” he said, adding that such actions undermine negotiations and make compromise impossible.

Marking the anniversary of “Bloody Christmas,” Ustel condemned the Greek Cypriot leadership for reviving “the same aggressive mentality” from 1963 through modern military plans. “The mentality that plunged the Republic of Cyprus into bloodshed in 1963 is the same mentality that today seeks to establish an anti-Türkiye military force in the Eastern Mediterranean,” he said. “It is impossible to conduct a healthy negotiation process with such an understanding.”

Ustel reaffirmed that the TRNC and Türkiye are inseparable, warning that any military plan, pipeline project, or political alliance that disregards Türkiye’s and Turkish Cypriots’ rights in the Eastern Mediterranean, the “Blue Homeland,” or TRNC sovereign areas “is doomed to fail from the outset.”

Cyprus has remained divided for decades between Greek and Turkish Cypriots despite repeated UN-led attempts at a comprehensive settlement. Early 1960s intercommunal violence forced Turkish Cypriots into enclaves for safety. Following a Greek Cypriot coup in 1974, Türkiye intervened militarily, and the TRNC was declared in 1983. Peace negotiations have continued intermittently, including a failed round in Switzerland in 2017. The Greek Cypriot Administration joined the European Union in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots rejected a UN-backed reunification plan in a referendum.

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