Cyprus accuses Turkey of deploying weaponry in northern island

The Cypriot government on Thursday accused Turkey of deploying new weaponry in the Turkish controlled northern Cyprus.

Defence Minister Kyriacos Mavronicolas described the move as "new provocations" by Turkey, which he said ran contrary to efforts toward finding a fair solution to the Cyprus issue.He said these actions were aimed at strengthening Turkey's military presence in "the occupied areas but they also increase tension along the ceasefire line."

According to the minister, high-tech US-made armaments, including a substantial number of personnel carriers, were transported to northern Cyprus while attention was focused on the elections held there on Sunday.

The minister said available information indicated this latest arrival of arms was not aimed at replacing existing military equipment.

"Such moves to boost the Turkish occupation army in the recent past have not been matched by an equivalent reduction or the return of weaponry to Turkey," the minister said.

Mavronicolas said the government would send letters to its Eu counterparts "to expose this move abroad" and ask Ankara to explain its stance with regard to the Cyprus issue and its EU aspirations. Turkey's military presence in northern Cyprus could be dated back to 1974 when it sent troops to take control of the northern third of the island in the wake of a failed Greek Cypriot coup seeking union with Greece.

The latest international efforts to reunite the island failed last April when the Greek Cypriots voted down a UN peace plan, while the Turkish Cypriots overwhelmingly endorsed it. After that, only the internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot south joined the European Union on May 1, leaving the Turkish Cypriot community outside the bloc.

Source: Xinhua