The latest military drill between the Greek Cypriot administration and Israel comes at the cost of disturbing the region’s stability, the Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.
The Foreign Ministry said the recent Agapinor 2022 drills by Israel and the Greek Cypriot administration, which came at the cost of disturbing regional stability, is more proof of the cynicality of the Greek Cypriot administration.
"We call on countries which take part in such actions by GCA (Greek Cypriot administration), not to be means of provocations and propaganda," the ministry said in a statement.
The maneuvers, dubbed Agapenor-22, began last week and included extensive military exercises, including airborne operations, combat drills in urban areas and fighting in mountainous terrain.
The Israeli navy was also reportedly taking part.
Israel and the Greek Cypriot administration have moved strategically closer in recent years and they hold joint military drills several times a year.
The Turkish ministry also emphasized that Ankara will continue to resolutely defend the rights and interests of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
Similarly, the TRNC also slammed the military drill saying that the Greek Cypriot administration increased its arming and military activities day by day. It added that with its military activities openly displayed, the administration is not interested in building trust between the two communities on the island and is continuing to engage in rhetoric deceiving the public.
"The military relations and exercises that Israel and other related countries have established with the Greek Cypriot side do not mean anything other than supporting these activities of the Greek Cypriot side. Such activities are factors that prevent the establishment of the needed stability and peace environment in the region,” it added.
Cyprus has been mired in a decadeslong dispute between Greek and Turkish 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 of the island led to Turkey's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983 and is currently only recognized by Turkey.
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 Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom.
The Greek Cypriot administration entered the European Union in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots thwarted a U.N. plan to end the longstanding dispute.
Currently, the Turkish side advocates a two-state solution based on the sovereign equality and equal international status of the two sides on the island.
