Turkiye: Joint Israel military drills with Cyprus should not be provocative

Spokesperson of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Tanju Bilgic in Ankara, Turkey on 21 October 2021. [Cem Özdel/Anadolu Agency]

Joint military drills between Israel and Cyprus should not be provocative, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said yesterday according to Anadolu.

Spokesperson Tanju Bilgic said that Turkiye repeated its call to countries which carry out joint drills with Cyprus not to use them as provocation. He added that they should also not be used for propaganda, stressing that Turkiye is committed to protecting the interests of Turkish Cyprus.

Israel carried out military drills jointly with Greek Cyprus between 29 May and 2 June; the largest since the start of relations between the two sides began.

Following a Greece-backed coup in 1974, Turkiye intervened to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution, leading to the island being divided into Turkish Cyprus and Greek Cyprus.

READ: What is left for Turkiye to be in the western camp? The Armenian tragedy and the last fig leaf

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