The New Anatolian, Turkey
March 2 2007

Ankara blasts French, Greek Cypriot military pact

Friday , 02 March 2007

Turkey yesterday condemned a bilateral military agreement between
France and the Greek Cypriots, underlining that Greek Cyprus has no
right to sign such a pact.

The statement of the Turkish Foreign Ministry came after France and
the Greek Cypriots signed an agreement in Paris that envisages Greek
Cypriot cooperation with France on some military issues, in addition
to military and defense cooperation.

French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie and Greek Cypriot
Foreign Minister George Lillikas on Wednesday signed the agreement,
which gives France the right to use Andreas Papandreou Airport in Baf
and the Zigi (Terazi) Naval Base, according the Greek Cypriot press.

"The agreement between France and the Greek Cypriots is ominous,"
said the statement. "The sensitive stability and balance on Cyprus
and the eastern Mediterranean Sea is made certain with the rights of
the guarantor states."

The statement underlined that after a similar agreement effort last
June, Turkey warned France that such agreements posing a threat to
the stability of the eastern Mediterranean would also harm efforts to
reach a permanent solution to the Cyprus problem under UN auspices.

Underlining that the agreement at issue violates the 1960 agreements
on Cyprus, the statement stressed, "France’s step to sign a military
agreement with the Greek Cypriots is an ominous event."

"The agreement does not have validity for Turkey or the Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)," it said. "With its activities
and manner in recent days, the Greek Cypriot administration continues
to be a source of instability in the region, gradually enlarging the
Cyprus issue in the eastern Mediterranean." The statement warned the
agreement would seriously harm efforts to bring a comprehensive and
permanent solution to the Cyprus problem.

The French Defense Ministry confirmed that a military agreement with
Greek Cyprus was signed in Paris during a visit by the Greek Cypriot
foreign minister, but did not provide further details. The French
Foreign Ministry said the accord was "standard" between two EU
members and that it involved military training and information- and
knowledge-sharing.

Cyprus is divided between an internationally recognized Greek Cypriot
administration in the south and the TRNC in the north. The Greek
Cypriot administration joined the European Union in May 2004 with a
claim to represent the whole island, although the Greek Cypriots
overwhelmingly rejected the UN-sponsored Annan plan in April 2004,
which was the last major effort for the unification of the island.

Turkish Cypriots, in a separate referendum, voted in favor of the
plan but they remain under international isolation.

This has also been a period of heightened tension in Turkish-French
relations. France’s parliament voted last October to approve a bill
that would criminalize denying that the mass killings of Armenians by
Turks at the beginning of the 20th century was genocide, prompting
Turkish trade organizations to call for a boycott of French companies
and the Turkish military to say it would break off all contacts with
its French counterparts.