Cyprus Considers NATO Application Despite Certain Turkish Veto
(Bloomberg) -- Cyprus wants to be ready for the possibility of becoming a NATO member, President Nikos Christodoulides said Thursday, even though Turkey pledges to veto such a move.
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“The fact that the Republic of Cyprus cannot be a NATO member state due to Turkey’s objections prevents the National Guard from many opportunities to either upgrade or acquire military equipment,” Christodoulides said. Turkey doesn’t recognize the Republic of Cyprus.
It’s the first time that Christodoulides has publicly said that Cyprus is taking steps to prepare for a possible application to join the alliance and his comments come after a report that he presented his plan to US President Joe Biden in a recent visit in Washington.
Cyprus is in talks with the US at three levels about how it “can take advantage of these opportunities” that a NATO application would provide, the president said.
There’s no sign, however, of any change in Turkey’s opposition. To join the alliance, all 32 members must approve, giving any single country a veto.
A member of the European Union, Cyprus — less than half the size of New Jersey — was effectively partitioned in 1963 when fighting erupted between its two main ethnic groups: Greek-speaking and Turkish-speaking Cypriots.
It was fully divided in 1974 after Turkey captured the northern third of the island with the aim of protecting minority Turkish Cypriots. That followed an Athens-backed coup by supporters of a union of the whole island with Greece, then ruled by a military junta. The island has been divided ever since.
Numerous UN-led efforts over the decades to reunify the eastern Mediterranean nation on the basis of a bi-zonal federation have failed. The most recent effort came in 2021, when officials from Turkey, Greece and the UK — guarantor powers under an agreement that ended British colonial rule in Cyprus — joined top Greek- and Turkish-Cypriot politicians in Geneva for three days of talks.
“Strengthening the deterrent power of the Republic of Cyprus is of utmost importance to us and thus we take advantage of every opportunity, both towards the US and NATO, as well as towards the European Union,” Christodoulides said.
Cyprus has already decided to strengthen and upgrade its naval and air bases. “In this context, we are in advanced consultations for the naval base with the European Union, for the air base with the US,” Christodoulides said.
--With assistance from Sotiris Nikas.
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