Turkey has condemned the signing of a road map to enhance cooperation in the field of defense between the United States and the Republic of Cyprus, Reuters reported, quoted by News.bg
The move came amid UN efforts to find common ground to restart long-stalled talks between the rival Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities on the Mediterranean island, which has been divided for decades.
According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, the US steps, including the announcement last June to start a strategic dialogue with Cyprus, are detrimental to the security of the Turkish Cypriot part of the island. The department states that this undermines the neutral position of the US towards the island of Cyprus and makes it difficult to achieve a fair, lasting and sustainable settlement of the Cyprus issue.
Earlier this week, the US and the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus signed the road map for cooperation in Nicosia. In a joint statement, their defense ministries reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate in addressing international security issues through the roadmap.
Cyprus was partitioned in the Turkish invasion of 1974, after a brief Greek-inspired coup. Peace talks have been frozen since 2017. The self-governing region in the north of the island is recognized only by Ankara.