Significant developments are taking place in Cyprus and the Aegean Sea. Greece, using the US attack on Iran as a pretext, sent four F-16s and two frigates to southern Cyprus on a permanent basis; it deployed Patriot missiles to the island of Limni, located in front of the Dardanelles Strait, and to the island of Kerpe, close to our southern shores, both of which should have been demilitarized under the Lausanne and Paris Treaties. French President Macron, who established a tripartite EU (Greek-Cypriot-French) air base in Southern Cyprus, visited the South together with Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis. Macron said that an attack on Southern Cyprus would be an attack on Europe. Greek Cypriot leader Hristodulis posed on an F-16 fighter jet. Greek Defense Minister Dendias made inflammatory remarks, suggesting that the Iran war was an opportunity to remove the Turks from Cyprus with the help of European allies. Discussions began about the Greek Cypriot Administration joining NATO. Former Greek Prime Minister Tsipras emphasized that NATO membership would bring new risks and lead to instability on the island, saying, “Our compass should be Ankara.” Turkey, as a guarantor country, announced that the mission of the six F-16s it sent to the island was to ensure the security of Turkish Cypriots and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Recent developments represent a significant step in the efforts of the Greek Cypriots, first with Greece since 1974 and then with EU countries after becoming a member of the European Union in 2004, to dangerously arm Southern Cyprus against Turkey, in violation of the 1960 Guarantee and Alliance Agreements.
Until now, all documents prepared within the framework of the UN Secretary-General’s Good Offices mission have placed “the demilitarization of the island of Cyprus” high among the objectives set for a solution. This was also required by the spirit of the UN negotiation process. However, looking at the island’s recent history, we see that the Greeks, armed with weapons, launched attacks starting with EOKA terrorism in order to annex the island to Greece, which led to the Bloody Christmas of 1963. The Greek army brought to the island, together with General Grivas, engaged in bloody actions. we know that the weapons Makarios obtained from Eastern Bloc countries were used against Turkish Cypriots, and that the July 15, 1974 Samson coup carried out by the Greek Junta overturned the status quo on the island. The US, which lifted its embargo on the Greeks three years ago, also joined the frenzy of arming the Greeks. If US officials have not yet sufficiently understood the Greeks, they should be asked which demonstrators killed their ambassadors in Nicosia on August 19, 1974.
With recent developments, we see that, although they are not an Eastern Mediterranean country, the Greeks have begun to join the Greeks’ adventurism in their renewed efforts to encircle Turkey. Worse still, we see that this duo has begun to involve the European Union by creating faits accomplis to the “Joint Defense Doctrine” they established in 1993.
As will be recalled, in November 1993, during the visit of the then Greek Cypriot leader Glafkos Klerides to Athens, a military doctrine called the “Joint Defense Doctrine” was announced, which drew serious reactions from Ankara. According to this doctrine
a) Cyprus was included in Greece’s defense zone.
b) If there was a Turkish attack against Southern Cyprus, Greece would consider it an act against itself and would consider it a cause for war.
c) Greece and the Greek Cypriot Administration would jointly prepare and implement defense plans.
d) The parties would make decisions together and act together on international platforms.
The acceptance of this doctrine coincided with the European Commission’s positive response to the Greek Cypriots’ application for membership. Then, in 1995, the Kardak crisis occurred between Turkey and Greece. The Greek Cypriots engaged in “border violation” actions in Cyprus.
The “S-300 missile crisis” that emerged during that period of successive tensions added a new dimension to the problems. In January 1997, the Greek Cypriot Administration’s acquisition of S-300 surface-to-air missiles with a range of 140 kilometers from Russia meant that not only Cyprus but also Anatolian territory was under threat and, more importantly, that the Turkish-Greek balance established by the Treaty of Lausanne was disrupted.
Turkey’s strong reaction to the S-300 crisis prompted the US and the guarantor state, the UK, to take action; in response, the Greeks announced that no date had been set for the deployment of the missiles and that their aim was to draw attention to the Cyprus issue. Ultimately, the missiles were deployed on the island of Crete.
While these crises were unfolding in Cyprus, the Greek Cypriots’ EU accession process was also accelerating. The Greek Cypriot-Greek side’s goal was to ensure that, once EU membership was secured, the Cyprus dispute would be removed from the Turkish-Greek axis and placed on the EU-Turkey axis.
Today, the situation before us reflects this. The visits of EU leaders to the Greek Cypriot side, the Greek Cypriots’ efforts to arm themselves excessively, their cooperation with Israel, France’s dispatch of the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to the Eastern Mediterranean, the Netherlands’ deployment of a frigate as part of this deployment, and the new version of the “Greek-Cypriot defense doctrine” that seeks to involve the European Union in the game show that we are facing this situation.
In this context, it should be particularly emphasized that the breaking point for regional peace and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean is the accession of the Greek Cypriot Administration to the EU in 2004 without reaching a permanent solution in Cyprus. This situation has created an anomaly that has had negative repercussions throughout the region.
The developments that have taken place are disruptive to the balance established in Cyprus in 1960 with the London and Zurich Agreements. Articles 4 and 5 of the 1960 Treaty of Alliance and its Additional Protocol clearly define the military forces to be stationed in Cyprus. There is no question of European countries or others establishing bases outside of the British bases. The Treaty of Guarantee also regulates matters related to the protection of the island’s security by the three Guarantor countries, Turkey, Greece, and the United Kingdom.
The tensions, excessive armament initiatives, and adventurous tendencies of the Greek Cypriot side in Cyprus, which it has exploited by taking advantage of the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean issues, should not be allowed to threaten the security of Turkey and the Eastern Mediterranean in the region.
