Nicosia, Cyprus. High-profile Turkish Cypriots on Tuesday voiced displeasure over Monday’s signing of a status of forces agreement between the Republic of Cyprus and France. They said the deal, which will allow France to station troops on the island among other provisions, undermines established balances and the Turkish Cypriot side’s rights.
Ustel criticizes military buildup
Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel accused the Greek Cypriot side of “increasingly intensifying” the buildup of military assets in and around the island “under the guise of humanitarian purposes”, while instead aiming to “gain military advantages”.
He said this “disregards the Turkish Cypriot people’s inherent rights to sovereign equality on the island” and “is intended to disrupt the delicate balances established concerning the security and stability and our region”.
Agreement rejected by Turkish Cypriot side
Ustel said the agreement “holds no validity whatsoever from the perspective of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriot people”.
He added that the developments “reaffirm once again the vital importance of the effective and active guarantee provided by the Republic of Turkey, which is the guarantor of the Turkish Cypriot people’s security, and make evident the need to further strengthen our cooperation with our motherland, Turkey, in the fields of defence and security”.
Claims of inconsistency over Cyprus talks
Ustel said the Greek Cypriot side’s signing of military cooperation and armament agreements with various states, “including those which do not even have a coastline in the eastern Mediterranean”, is a “manifestation of [its] insincerity” regarding the Cyprus problem.
He said the Greek Cypriot side was “making arrangements which allow the deployment of foreign military elements on our island and enabling the use of Cyprus as a base for various military purposes” while also “insisting on the condition of ‘zero troops, zero guarantees’ in the context of reaching an agreement on the island”.
“It is evidently clear that such provocative steps further deepen the deficit of trust between the two peoples on the island,” he added.
Objection to unilateral agreements
Ustel said “the Greek Cypriot leadership is openly demonstrating its true intentions by systematically taking unilateral steps which disregard the Turkish Cypriot people’s inherent rights and lead to faits accomplis on the island”.
He added that “it is absolutely unacceptable for the Greek Cypriot administration, which has no authority to represent the Turkish Cypriot people and the entirety of the island of Cyprus, to enter into unilateral agreements on matters concerning the whole island”.
