The US lifted the ten-year ban on arms sales to Cyprus
The moment comes significantly during the standoff in Turkey's Mediterranean gas exploration with Greece and Cyprus, which nearly resulted in gunfire last weekend as the conflict becomes increasingly militarized: the United States have announced that they will lift a decades-old arms embargo against Cyprus .
For now, the US move will only allow the export of "non-lethal" military items to Cyprus. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo communicated the change to the President of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades in a phone call on Tuesday.
Pompeo also " reaffirmed US support for a comprehensive agreement to reunify the island" – given that the arms embargo was first imposed in 1987 in the hope that it would encourage reunification, following the military invasion. and the occupation of the northern half of the island by Turkey. 1974.
President Anastasiades has welcomed the temporary lifting of the sanctions, while Turkey predictably sees this move as a direct threat, urging Washington immediately to reverse course:
"It poisons the environment of peace and stability in the region," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said, adding that it "does not conform to the spirit of alliance" between the United States and Turkey, not realizing that Turkey on the one hand has already destroyed peace with explorations in the Greek area and that there is not much left with the purchase of the Russian S400 system of good relations with the USA.
The minister even went on to threaten everyone a bit: "Turkey, as a guarantor country, will undertake the necessary decisive countermeasures to guarantee the security of the Turkish Cypriot people, in line with its legal and historical responsibilities", but Pompeo reiterated on He tweeted that "Cyprus is a key partner in the Eastern Mediterranean" and added: "We waive restrictions on the sale of non-lethal defense items and services to the Republic of Cyprus for the next fiscal year."
Now the situation is very complex for Erdogan, especially after the Welt published the news, denied by Ankara, according to which the Sultan had asked to sink a ship or shoot down a Greek plane, an order that the generals refused to apply. Greece is rearming itself in record time and has ordered new and used French Rafale fighters. Turkey has announced joint military exercises with Russia in the contained areas, but there are no answers from Moscow and until yesterday Russia was not obstructing the Greek definition of territorial waters.
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The article The USA lift the decades-long ban on arms sales in Cyprus comes from ScenariEconomici.it .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/gli-usa-tolgono-il-bando-ultradecennale-di-vendita-armi-a-cipro/ on Thu, 03 Sep 2020 13:28:25 +0000.