Prime Minister Ünal Üstel evaluated the latest regional developments to Anadolu Agency on Thursday.

The Premier drew attention to the armament efforts of the Greek Cypriot Administration in South Cyprus.

He said that although the Greek Cypriot administration made calls for reconciliation from time to time in order to influence the worlds public opinion and to make themselves look peaceful and to portray the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) as being opposed to peace, their rhetoric and actions do not match one another.

“The Greek Cypriots, who call for peace on the one hand, are arming themselves,” said Üstel and stated that the TRNC is following the Greek Cypriots’ efforts to formulate a 2024 defence budget in the House of Representatives.

He emphasized that the armament efforts of the Greek Cypriot Administration in South Cyprus following Israeli attacks on Gaza and developments in the Eastern Mediterranean will harm the stability and peace in the region.

Pointing out that the TRNC has taken a common stance in favour of peace and stability by acting together with motherland Türkiye in the Eastern Mediterranean, Üstel said “The Greek Cypriots are arming themselves. We see Israel’s attacks on Palestine right next to us. There are over 20 thousand civilian casualties in these attacks. And still the world is watching this and a ceasefire cannot be achieved”.

“While all this is happening, and we know that the waters in the Mediterranean are hotter than usual, South Cyprus is arming itself. We understand from the Greek Cypriots’ arms purchase programs, defence budgets and the protocols they have signed that their talk of peace is not real. As a result of our cooperation with Türkiye we are closely following these hot developments in the Mediterranean and we are doing our best to resolve them,” said Üstel.