The Cypriot president applauds a gesture once again rejected by the Government of Turkey
Sep. 17 () –
The United States government has notified the definitive end of the arms embargo on Cyprus, imposed in 1987, after the island agreed, among other things, not to allow Russian ships to dock in its ports.
The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has endorsed the definitive end of the limits on the export of defense articles to Cyprus for the next fiscal year. The modification of the current regulation will become effective on October 1.
In exchange for the end of the embargo, which has already begun to be partially applied in 2020, Washington has demanded reforms to combat money laundering and other economic crimes and limits on the entry of Russian ships.
The Cypriot president, Nicos Anastasiades, has acknowledged on Twitter his “great satisfaction” for a decision that he considers “historic”. “It reflects the growing strategic relationship between the two countries, also in the field of security,” he stressed.
For Turkey, which occupied the northern part of the island in the 1970s, where today there is an autonomous territory that is only recognized by Ankara, the latest decision by the United States breaks the “principle of equality” that must govern between the two administrations that they share the island of Cyprus.
“It will reinforce the intransigence of the Greek Cypriot side, which negatively affects the resolution of problems, and will lead to an arms race on the island, which harms peace and stability in the eastern Mediterranean”, the Ministry of Defense has sentenced. Turkish Foreign Affairs, in a statement collected by the Anatolia agency.
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