“The landing of French military aircraft in the GCA under the pretext of a military exercise carried out with the GCA, Greece and Italy, and their deployment on the island, either temporarily or permanently is the clear violation of the 1960 Treaties”, Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Hami Aksoy stated on early Thursday.
The statement underlined that France, a non-guarantor of Cyprus, dangerously encourages the Greek Cypriot-Greek duo who are the culprits of the tension in the Eastern Mediterranean to further escalate.
“Every initiative attempting to exclude Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots in the Eastern Mediterranean will result in frustration”, statement said
As Daily Sabah reports, previously the prime minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Ersin Tatar criticized the upcoming joint military drill being conducted by Greece, France and Italy in the Mediterranean as “against the international law.”
GCA, Greece, France, and Italy hold a joint naval and aerial exercise in the eastern Mediterranean, which started on Wednesday. The initiative, codenamed “Evnomia”, involving naval and aerial assets from the four EU countries, will take place in the maritime area, south of Cyprus, up to Friday, the Hellenic ministry said. Manoeuvres will include a broad range of naval and aviation exercises as well as Search and Rescue drills.
