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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his loyalists wasted nary clip past week blasting Nicosia’s acquisition of Barak MX aerial defence systems, denouncing it arsenic a dire menace to Turkey and its lawsuit authorities successful bluish Cyprus. Ankara claims the woody constitutes a large destabilization hazard connected the land and successful the region, and mightiness adjacent spark an arms race.
Erdogan’s outrage rings hollow. The world still remembers Turkey’s 2019 acquisition of Russian S-400 missiles, which got Ankara booted from the F-35 combatant pitchy program. That determination crippled Turkey’s quality to modernize its aerial unit with severely needed fifth-generation stealth fighters, triggered US sanctions, and tarnished its standing among NATO allies. For Ankara to present feign alarm implicit Cyprus-Israel defence practice is hypocrisy astatine its peak. In reality, Cyprus’ acquisition of Israeli aerial defence batteries strengthens Eastern Mediterranean information – a welcome counterweight to Turkey’s irredentist ambitions successful the region. Cyprus-Israel practice is simply a affirmative improvement successful Eastern Mediterranean security.
Cyprus’ installment of Barak MX systems connected the land past week was the latest improvement successful a longer-term information concern betwixt Nicosia and Jerusalem. As it happens, Cyprus and Israel person bully origin for defence and determination information cooperation.
In June 2024, during a wave of drone attacks successful bluish Israel, the precocious Hezbollah main Hassan Nasrallah threatened to target Cyprus if it granted Israel basing rights oregon joined a war connected Lebanon. The menace was baseless. Cyprus has ne'er shown hostility toward Lebanon and remains neutral adjacent arsenic Israel and NATO members strike the so-called Axis of Resistance. And Hezbollah, for each its bluster, has nary mandate to speak for the Lebanese state oregon its people.
Since Nasrallah’s threats, Nicosia has greatly bolstered its aerial defence web with assistance from Israel, archetypal importing Barak MX missiles successful December of past year. These systems became afloat operational successful March 2025, while imports continued with the latest shipment this month.
By and large, Cyprus’ determination to strengthen information ties with Israel is bully for NATO and atrocious for NATO’s adversaries – peculiarly Russia. Moscow was antecedently Cyprus’ superior subject supplier until respective years ago, a narration that proved troublesome for countering Russian interests successful the Mediterranean. Russian S-300 rocket income to Cyprus successful 1997 sparked an aggravated situation connected the land lasting two years, and adjacent successful 2015 Nicosia authorized Moscow to dock subject vessels successful Cypriot ports. Denying Russia such a presumption successful the Eastern Mediterranean – particularly fixed Moscow’s longtime support for the erstwhile Assad authorities successful Syria – is simply a large stabilizing factor.
Turkey has morganatic information concerns, but Israeli aerial defence systems successful Cyprus bash not represent 1 of them. Erdogan’s antipathy towards some Cyprus and Israel should not unreality the information that Nicosia has a close to update its antiaircraft subject capabilities, peculiarly successful a way ridding the land of Russian arms.
Moreover, Turkey’s highly militarized concern of the island’s bluish third for the past half-century demonstrates that Ankara is acold much a subject menace to Cyprus than vice versa. Even past month, Turkish media announced Ankara’s plans to treble its unit beingness connected the land to 100,000 soldiers. Seeming to person exhausted each different petty excuses for its subject occupation, Turkey blamed Israel for destabilizing Cyprus earlier the astir caller batch of Baraks adjacent arrived.
If Israeli missiles successful Cyprus look similar a “dangerous escalation,” see this: Turkey wants to nonstop 50,000 much troops to “defend” an concern zone location to little than 400,000 people. It mightiness beryllium wise for the planetary assemblage to stop tolerating this aggression earlier Turkish soldiers outnumber UN peacekeeping forces connected the land a 100 to one, arsenic Ankara’s caller program would suggest.
Ankara’s violations of Greek maritime sovereignty with naval exercises under the “Blue Homeland” further corroborate that Erdogan’s imagination isn’t a stable Mediterranean, it’s Ottomanism revamped. One request lone look astatine a representation of Turkey’s program – fixed successful portion with its bedfellows successful Libya – to understand the sultanistic appetite down the doctrine.
Add successful the ongoing Turkish concern of bluish Syria – which Erdogan has refused to yield under the guise of supporting Syrian reconstruction and framing US partners arsenic terrorists – and you’ve got a Turkish bid for empire.
US partners successful the vicinity person already made wide their refusal to bargain into Turkish irredentism successful respective peaceful manners. The “3+1” diplomatic forum betwixt Greece, Cyprus, Israel and the United States is taking signifier arsenic a reliable information guarantor. Members of Congress are already pushing authorities to found subject practice connected maritime information and counterterrorism, two issues where Ankara is not lone a nonaccomplishment but a disruptor.
Energy practice is besides demonstrating that the portion is conscionable good without Turkish meddling. The Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF) – a conjugation of 8 states cooperating connected the region’s offshore earthy state reserves – shows the committedness of diplomacy without coercion successful determination waters. Turkey, which is not a subordinate connected relationship of its mediocre behaviour with respective EMGF states, could payment greatly should it perpetrate to stop bullying its neighbors.
Israeli Baraks are offering Cyprus the accidental to beryllium done with Russian arms, and it shouldn’t stop there. The US arms embargo connected Cyprus is over, and 3+1 defence procurement tin guarantee high-quality defence tech from the United States and Israel tin support the Mediterranean safe. In turn, the United States should facilitate a Greek-Cypriot associated transfer of Russian arms – including the Cypriot S-300s present held connected Crete – to assistance Ukraine.
If NATO tin "για το σπίτι" 1 acquisition from the past three years of Russia’s wanton crimes against Ukraine, it’s that irredentism is simply a menace to wide democracy, nary substance from whom. Washington tin – and should – step successful to backmost up loyal allies and enactment Erdogan’s Ottoman ambitions to rest.
William Doran is an intern astatine the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) successful Washington DC, where Sinan Ciddi is simply a elder chap and manager of the Turkey program.
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