The speaker of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Parliament said Thursday that rising tensions in the Middle East and growing military cooperation between the Greek Cypriot administration and its Western partners are placing the island at greater risk, accusing the Greek Cypriot administration of “attempting to take on more than it can handle.”
Speaking on a local television program, TRNC Assembly Speaker Ziya Öztürkler said the latest regional developments marked the beginning of a new phase for the Eastern Mediterranean and underscored the need for a stronger TRNC.
“The Greek Cypriot administration has attempted to take on tasks beyond its capacity,” Öztürkler said, referring to the Greek Cypriot alignment with Israel and Western powers during the escalating conflict between Iran and a U.S.-Israel coalition.
Regional tensions surged after the U.S. and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran on Saturday, triggering retaliation by Tehran on U.S. military targets across the region.
Öztürkler said the involvement of the United Kingdom, which maintains two sovereign military bases on the island, alongside the U.S. and Israel, had heightened the risk of the island of Cyprus being drawn into the conflict.
British facilities on the island, particularly the Royal Air Force base at Akrotiri, have played an important logistical role in Western military operations in the Middle East in recent years. Iranian forces have warned that installations linked to Western operations could become targets if regional hostilities escalate.
“The rising tensions could fundamentally alter regional balances,” Öztürkler said. “The United Kingdom siding with Israel and the United States through its bases, and the Greek Cypriot administration’s cooperation with Israel, place the island directly at risk.”
The TRNC leadership has held a series of security meetings in response to the crisis, he added, focusing on crisis management, coordination with Türkiye and the preparedness of civil defense mechanisms.
Officials have reassessed emergency planning and civil protection measures to ensure the safety of residents, he said.
Öztürkler argued that recent developments had again highlighted the importance of the presence of Turkish troops on the island and Türkiye’s role as a guarantor power under the framework established after the island’s division in 1974.
“The importance of Turkish troops and Türkiye’s guarantor status has once again become clear,” he said, calling them a fundamental pillar of the TRNC’s security policy.
Cyprus has remained divided for more than five decades between the Turkish Cypriot north and the Greek Cypriot south despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. to achieve a comprehensive settlement. The TRNC was established in 1983 and is recognized only by Türkiye, while the Greek Cypriot administration represents the island internationally and joined the European Union in 2004.
Turkish officials and leaders in Turkish Cyprus have increasingly advocated a two-state solution to the dispute, arguing that decades of United Nations-led negotiations for a federal settlement have failed to produce results.
Öztürkler said recent geopolitical developments were further reinforcing the “two-state reality” on the island.
“The reality of two states on the island is becoming increasingly clear,” he said, adding that the TRNC should take new steps to strengthen its international legitimacy and visibility.
The speaker also referred to recent talks in Ankara, where he met Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş and Defense Minister Yaşar Güler. The meetings focused on parliamentary cooperation as well as regional security issues.
Öztürkler said the discussions highlighted the close ties between Türkiye and Turkish Cyprus and emphasized continued coordination between the two sides as tensions in the Middle East reshape security dynamics across the Eastern Mediterranean.
