Türkiye slams anchoring of US destroyer at Greek Cypriot port

By Zehra Nur Duz

ANKARA (AA) – Türkiye has “strongly” supported a statement by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Foreign Ministry on the anchoring of the US destroyer USS Arleigh Burke at a Greek Cypriot port.

“As we have repeatedly emphasized together with the TRNC, the steps taken in the region by the US which disrupt the balance at the expense of the Turkish Cypriot side damage that country’s long-standing neutral position as regards the Island and pose an obstacle to a just, sustainable and lasting settlement of the Cyprus issue,” Turkish Foreign Ministry said Wednesday in a statement.

The ministry urged the US to reconsider these policies.

The statement reiterated Türkiye's determination, as a guarantor state on the island, to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the Turkish Cypriots under all circumstances and conditions.

- Decades-long dispute

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN 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 Türkiye's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.

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 Türkiye, Greece, and the UK.

The Greek Cypriot administration entered the European Union in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots thwarted a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.