Turkey monitoring reports Cyprus getting Israeli defence system, official says

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ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkey is monitoring “attempts to disrupt the balance in Cyprus” and will act to safeguard security in the north of the island, a Turkish official said on Thursday after Cypriot reports that the government there had procured an air defence system from Israel.

Cyprus was split in a Turkish invasion after a brief Greek inspired coup in 1974, with the internationally-recognised government controlling the south, and a breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in the north that is only recognised by Ankara.

Cypriot media reported last December that Cyprus had taken delivery of an Israeli air defence system. The Barak MX anti-aircraft system will complement and eventually replace the older Russian-made Tor M1, the reports said.

Cypriot media have since reported two more deliveries, most recently last week. Cypriot officials never openly disclose procurement programmes because of the ongoing tensions with Turkey.

A Turkish defence ministry official, speaking to reporters on Thursday on condition of anonymity, said ongoing armament efforts by Cyprus and “activities that undermine peace and stability on the island could have dangerous consequences”.

“Any attempt to disrupt the balance on the island is being closely monitored and all necessary measures are being taken for the security and peace of the TRNC,” he added, using the acronym for the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Earlier this week, Cypriot Defence Minister Vassilis Palmas was quoted by state media as saying with regard to any procurement of Israeli air defence systems: “Cyprus is a peaceful, democratic country which has been under occupation for 51 years.”

“As long as there is an occupation and no political solution (of the island’s division), we have the self-evident duty and obligation to ensure the defences of the Republic of Cyprus.”

Turkey is a fierce critic of Israel’s actions in Gaza, while Cyprus has close relations with Israel.

Russia was a leading supplier of military hardware to Cyprus for decades, but deals tapered off even before the European Union imposed a blanket ban on such imports in the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Those sanctions have left Cyprus’s existing defence systems short of spare parts and they cannot be upgraded, a senior Cypriot source told Reuters last year.

(Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever, additional reporting by Michele Kambas in Nicosia; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Gareth Jones)