The prime minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) has criticised a trilateral summit between Israel, Greece, and the Greek Cypriot Administration, warning that emerging military cooperation risks escalating tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean.
In a written statement on the summit held on Monday in Jerusalem, Unal Ustel said the meeting signalled a move toward confrontation rather than peace, stability, and cooperation in the region.
The TRNC is closely monitoring the “summit held by Israel, Greece and the Greek Cypriot Administration, as well as reports regarding plans to establish a joint military force,” he said on Tuesday.
Ustel said proposals to form a 2,500-strong “rapid intervention force,” which he said was presented as a deterrent against Türkiye and Turkish Cypriots, amounted to “a new and dangerous threat” to peace in the Eastern Mediterranean.
‘Israel is seeking to carry instability into Eastern Mediterranean’
“Israel, which tramples on humanitarian values through its aggressive policies in the Middle East, is now seeking to carry this instability into the Eastern Mediterranean,” Ustel said.
“Efforts to transform the region from a zone of peace into an arena of conflict threaten not only the island of Cyprus but the entire Mediterranean basin.”
He described the involvement of Greece and the Greek Cypriot Administration in what he called a “dangerous game” as a historic miscalculation.
Ustel also accused the Greek Cypriot leadership of presenting itself internationally as supportive of a settlement while simultaneously pursuing military alliances aimed at Türkiye.
“This hypocritical approach clearly demonstrates how detached they are from the realities on the island,” he said.
The TRNC premier said such actions undermine the basis for negotiations and make any potential compromise impossible.
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