Regarding the extension of the decision of the United States of America to lift the arms embargo imposed on the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus
The arms sales embargo that the United States of America (USA) had been imposing on the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus since 1987 was partially lifted in 2020 and completely lifted in 2021. Thereafter, with the statement of the US Department of State dated 18 August 2023, it was announced that the decision to lift the arms embargo was extended for one more year, starting from 1 October 2023, until 2024. It has been announced in the Federal Register on 27 September 2024 that the decision to lift the arms embargo has been extended for another year, until 30 September 2025.
Pretending that the decision to lift the arms embargo on the Greek Cypriot side was “reviewed” once a year; the signing of a road map for bilateral defense cooperation between the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus and the United States of America, as well as the regular so-called “port visits” of US Navy warships to ports in the Greek Cypriot side are not coincidental developments.
The support of the US Administration to the Greek Cypriot Administration under the guise of “strategic partnership”, which includes the lifting of the arms embargo, has been turned into an arms race by the Greek Cypriot side against our country and our Motherland. These steps of the USA, which have the potential to shift the balances in the Eastern Mediterranean, are exploited by the Greek Cypriot side and enable them to continue to mislead international public opinion by perpetuating the lie of being the “victimized side exposed to a security threat” on the island.
As may be remembered, on 1 May 2024, several pro-Greek Cypriot/Greek members of the United States House of Representatives introduced a bill titled “End the Cyprus Embargo Act” to ease the arms embargo imposed on the Greek Cypriot side and extend the review period of the decision to lift the arms embargo from one year to five years. If the aforementioned bill is approved, the military support provided by the United States to the Greek Cypriot side within the scope of the strategic partnership, including the sale of weapons and military equipment, will be deepened and become permanent.
We deem it useful to recall once again the negative consequences that the support given by the US Administration to the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus may have on the Island of Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean. We invite all relevant parties to act with common sense and especially the US Administration to stop encouraging the Greek Cypriot side.