(Bloomberg) -- Turkey can match any U.S. military shipments to the Greek-speaking side of Cyprus, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, calling Washington’s decision to ease its arms embargo on the divided island a disincentive to resolving its status.
But such tit-for-tat will only prolong the Cyprus conflict, he said in an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday.
“Whatever materiel you provide, we can send by multiples to the north,” Cavusoglu said, referring to the self-styled breakaway Turkish Cypriot state. “But what will happen? Tensions will rise again.”
The easing of the decades-old embargo this week paved the way for sales of non-lethal military equipment to a government Turkey refuses to recognize, and came at a time when Ankara is embroiled in a showdown with Cyprus and Greece over maritime borders and energy exploration rights in the eastern Mediterranean.
The move also stands to further damage Turkish-American ties, already strained by Ankara’s purchase of missiles from Russia.
“They said they will send non-lethal military equipment but the nature of the materiel is not important here,” Cavusoglu said. “The lifting of the embargo only for Greek Cypriots and similar steps in support of Greek Cypriots and Greece spoil the equality and balance on the island and work to distance them from seeking a solution.”
The most recent United Nations-backed talks to attempt to reunite Cyprus broke down in 2017.
EastMed Conflict
The Republic of Cyprus is a European Union member state and officially has sovereignty over the entire island. But in effect, it’s been divided since Turkey’s armed forces captured the northern third in 1974, following a coup attempt in which a military junta in Athens sought to unite Cyprus with Greece.
The Turkish minority’s self-proclaimed state in the north, recognized only by Ankara, also claims rights to any energy resources discovered off its coast.
The European Union has raised the possibility of sanctions if Turkey doesn’t contain its maritime activity. Cavusoglu said Turkey remains open to dialogue with Greece but won’t cease its activities in the Mediterranean as a precondition for talks. He also accused Greece of provoking Turkey by sending soldiers to an island just across the Turkish shore, in violation of a 1947 peace treaty.
A person familiar with the Greek government’s stance has said soldiers were already stationed on the island of Kastellorizo, known as Meis in Turkey, and the recent movement was a routine troop rotation.
“Instead of provocations, Greece should be open to a genuine dialogue with Turkey,” the minister said.
In a statement on Thursday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the leaders of Greece and Turkey had agreed to hold talks on establishing mechanisms for “military de-confliction” to reduce the risk of incidents and accidents in the eastern Mediterranean.
Earlier, Turkey had announced that Russia will hold two naval exercises in the eastern Mediterranean beginning next week.
Russian Navy spokesman Igor Dygalo didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Igor Korotchenko, head of the Centre for Analysis of World Arms Trade in Moscow, said the exercises are meant as a show of force by Russia against NATO and not an effort to back Turkey.
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