Security deal with Greek Cyprus not against third parties: US envoy

ANKARA

A roadmap for strengthening the bilateral defense cooperation between the United States and Greek Cyprus is not against third parties, a senior American official has said, in an effort to soothe down Ankara’s criticisms over expanding military ties between his country and southern Cyprus.

“The U.S. has bilateral security arrangements with many of its partners. We see such partnerships as mutually reinforcing and as contributing to regional stability. Again, I would like to underline that this agreement is not against any third party. The United States and Turkey are integrated NATO allies,” Mike Goldman, Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara was quoted as saying by daily Milliyet in an interview on Sept. 15.

Türkiye has condemned the deal between the U.S. and the Greek Cypriot administration, urging that the former’s abandoning its neutral position between Turkish and Greek Cypriots will undermine regional stability and make efforts to find a solution to the Cypriot problem more complicated.

The U.S. abandoned its decades-old balanced policy in the eastern Mediterranean by partially lifting the arms embargo on Cyprus in 2020. In 2022, Washington completely lifted the arms embargo on Cyprus at the expense of drawing Ankara’s criticisms.

On bilateral ties, Goldman said Türkiye-U.S. ties are solid and their sole philosophy is to move forward. Despite looming presidential elections in the U.S., the ties will not be impacted, the envoy stated, assuring that there will be no delays or obstacles in the sale of 40 new F-16s to Türkiye.

The envoy said talks are still ongoing between the two sides on technicalities over the production of certain components of the warplanes. On a question over Türkiye’s interest in joining the BRICS, an economic organization led by China and Russia, the envoy said his government has no opinions on this matter. “Türkiye is a sovereign and independent state. It can establish ties with whomever it wishes. We trust in our bilateral relations and defense relations with Türkiye as strong NATO partners,” he stated.

Goldman has also responded to a question on the killing of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, a Turkish-American citizen who was killed by the Israeli army in the West Bank last week. “This is absolutely terrifying,” the diplomat said, recalling that Washington is taking this incident very seriously.