Turkey’s Fidan warns Cyprus to ‘stay away’ from 'Israel's' wars
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Amid recent warnings by the Lebanese Resistance against Cyprus' involvement in the Israeli war on Gaza, Turkey's FM warns the island country of getting involved.
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Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan meets Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, on August 31, 2023. (AP)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan asserted on Monday that Cyprus was turning into an "operation center" for the Israeli war on Gaza, cautioning its distant neighbor against getting involved with the occupation's actions in the region.
"We frequently see in intelligence reports that certain countries use the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus as a base, particularly for operations in Gaza,” Fidan told Turkey’s HaberTurk television in an exclusive interview, without clarifying the nature of the intelligence reports.
Fidan said, "When you become a part of the ongoing wars in the Middle East, this fire will come and find you too," adding, "And as we share the same geography, it will then come and hit us too. Our advice to them is to stay away from the conflict."
Turkey has accused the Greek Cypriot administration of permitting two British bases on the island to be used for US arms shipments to "Israel" during the war on Gaza. However, the Republic of Cyprus and the United Kingdom have only acknowledged the use of these bases for "humanitarian purposes."
Fidan criticized the characterization of the bases as logistics hubs for humanitarian aid, claiming it masks their true function as military bases.
The Turkish foreign minister’s warning on Monday followed a threat by the secretary general of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, less than a week earlier.
Last Wednesday, June 19, Sayyed Nasrallah warned the Cypriot government about allowing its airports and bases to be used by the Israeli occupation.
"The Cypriot government should be warned that opening its airports and bases to the enemy to target Lebanon means it has become part of the war."
In turn, the Cypriot government's spokesperson, Konstantinos Lympiotis, said on June 20 that his country "is not involved" and "will not participate" in any wars, emphasizing that the Republic of Cyprus has excellent relations with Lebanon.
