FM restates Cyprus neutrality while Turkey warns against island’s use as military support base
Cyprus has not been and will not be part of the crisis, Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos told members of the EU council on Monday, while elsewhere Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan warned that Cyprus was becoming an “operation centre” in the Israel-Gaza war and that the effects of this would draw Turkey into the fray.
The foreign minister made his statements during discussions on the Middle East crisis held at the EUs foreign affairs council in Luxembourg. The minister was responding to the threat made by Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah last week, against the island.
Nazrallah in fiery statements had said Hezbollah would punish Cyprus if it allowed Israel to use its airports and bases to target Lebanon.
“Any inflammatory statements aimed at further escalation and destabilisation in the region are reprehensible,” Kombos underscored to the EU adding that “Cyprus has not been and will not be part of the crisis.”
The minister also said that an expansion of the crisis, especially in Lebanon, should be avoided, and expressed full support for the intensive diplomatic efforts of the USA and France.
Fidan, meanwhile, also on Monday, made statements claiming that Cyprus and the Greek islands had become operational centres “used by certain countries” against Gaza.
In an interview with the Turkish channel Hübertürk, the Turkish foreign minister said that the risk of an expanded conflict was serious.
“As long as Israel’s genocide continues, this danger will continue, [as] we have emphasised from the start […] at [this] moment when Lebanon comes to the fore, factors in Lebanon threaten the Greek Cypriot administration of southern Cyprus. [They are] the forerunners,” he said.
Fidan urged Cyprus, as well as Greece, to “stay away” from being used as hubs for the technical and military of Israel.
“The Greek government of south Cyprus has turned into an operational base used by certain countries [in] operations against Gaza,” Fidan said, claiming that intelligence-gathering and military flights from the island to Gaza were ongoing.
The use of the base [understood to be the Akrotiri RAF base] purportedly as a “logistical” centre was hides the fact that operations are in fact military in nature, Fidan further claimed. He warned that expansion of military activity to Cyprus and Greece would lead to Turkey being drawn in.
“The fact that this place and the Greek islands are used for operations in the Middle East, will not benefit either the Greek Cypriot administration, nor Greece. Our advice […] is to stay away from these issues, because when you get involved […] in the ongoing wars in the Middle East, if you become part of them, the fire will come and find you. And we’re in the same geography, so the fire will come and find us too,” Fidan said.
“All regional [actors] must recognise that there is intense militarisation in the area,” he noted.
In more general statements about de-escalating the Middle East crisis, Kombos had earlier emphasised that Cyprus supports the implementation of US President Joe Biden’s proposal, in particular the implementation of UNSC Resolution 2735, calling on all parties to work towards creating conditions that will lead to the start of a peace process.