Vice President Fuat Oktay said on Wednesday that arming the Eastern Mediterranean will not benefit anyone as he underlined that Türkiye's role as a guarantor on the island of Cyrpus begins with security.
Oktay evaluated items on the political agenda while participating in a live broadcast in Nicosia (Lefkoşa), the capital of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) while visiting to attend meetings and openings.
“In the Eastern Mediterranean, in Cyprus, armament does not benefit anyone. Especially if this concerns the security of the TRNC and the Turkish people, our guarantorship begins with security,” Oktay said.
“We closely follow the activities aimed at reversing the situation regarding embargoes. We are aware of some collaborations for armament, which started with the lifting of the embargoes. We are discussing this with the United States, expressing our concerns,” he added.
Emphasizing that the relevant states, especially the U.S., should understand the reality of the situation as soon as possible and see that it would be to the benefit of both societies and states that the island is unarmed rather than armed, Oktay encouraged the aforementioned states to determine their policies accordingly.
Noting that the U.S. will not be allowed to pose a threat that will directly affect security, Oktay stressed, "We will never allow any game to be played in the region in defiance of us, we will not allow a security threat to be established in defiance of us.”
In addition, the vice president underlined that from now on, the only solution proposal on the table when it comes to the Cyprus issue is a two-state solution that grants both sides sovereign, equal status, adding that they no longer expect anything from the United Nations regarding a solution.
Finally, Oktay stated that the development taking place in every field in Türkiye will also reflect on the TRNC, explaining that Ankara will support the TRNC in many areas, especially tourism and agriculture.
The conditions of the embargo deal between the U.S. and Greeks and Greek Cypriots are enshrined in the Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act that the U.S. Congress passed in 2019. The law underscores U.S. support for closer ties among Greece, the Greek Cypriot administration and Israel based on recently discovered offshore gas deposits.
The U.S. enacted the embargo in 1987 to prevent a potential arms race from harming peace talks with Turkish Cypriots. Barred access to U.S. weapons, Greek Cyprus turned to Russia to procure Mi-35 attack helicopters, T-80 tanks and Tor-M1 anti-aircraft missile systems.
Türkiye has many times invited its NATO ally United States to adopt a neutral stance on the Cyprus issue.
Cyprus has been mired in a decadeslong dispute between the Turkish and Greek Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. to achieve a comprehensive settlement.
Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.
In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece's annexation led to Türkiye's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.
It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece and the United Kingdom.
The Greek Cypriot administration entered the European Union in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots thwarted the U.N.'s Annan Plan to end the longstanding dispute.
Today, the Turkish side supports a solution based on the equal sovereignty of the two states on the island. On the other hand, the Greek side wants a federal solution based on the hegemony of the Greeks.
Türkiye, which has the longest continental coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean, has rejected maritime boundary claims by Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration, stressing that their excessive claims violate the sovereign rights of Türkiye and the Turkish Cypriots.
