Turkey lashed out Monday at a recent five-day joint military exercise between Greece and the Republic of Cyprus calling it a potential threat to the Turkish community on the divided island and to peace and stability in the eastern Mediterranean.
"The nature of the war games has shown how justified concerns over the security of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) are, and have been interpreted as a development which could negatively effect peace and stability in the region," the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.
The statement said last week's maneuvers carried out under the 1993 Cyprus-Greece joint defense pact, opposed by Turkey, were based on the scenario of an attack on the TRNC, the breakaway Turkish state in northern Cyprus which is only recognized by Turkey.
"Turkey will continue with determination to take measures against all threats to the TRNC and attempts to disrupt the Turkish-Greek balance in Cyprus," it added.
The statement said the wargames would not have contributed to United Nations-sponsored talks between Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash for a settlement of the island's divisions.
Last week's wargames, codenamed Nikiforos-Toxotis, tested the Cypriot National Guard's early-warning air defense capability for the first time. Greek fighter jets and warships took part.
During the exercise, Turkish jets buzzed Greek aircraft and engaged in mock dogfights in two separate incidents, according to the Cypriot defense ministry.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey occupied the northern third of the island in response to an Athens-engineered coup in Nicosia seeking to unite the country with Greece – ANKARA (AFP)
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