Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash blasted last week's joint military exercise between Greece and the Republic of Cyprus as "provocation" and a "new blow" to efforts for a settlement on the divided island.
"We would like to remind that we may use our right to defense in the face of the continuation of provocative military acts by the Greek Cypriot and Greek sides and their attempts at disrupting the Turkish-Greek balance on the island," Denktash said in a written statement.
The veteran leader also underlined that the five-day exercises, Nikiforos-Toxotis, had come ahead of a fifth round of United-Nations-sponsored peace talks and coincided with a visit to the island by UN envoy Alvaro de Soto.
"I believe the Greek Cypriot provocation is a stance which dynamites the negotiation process," he added.
Denktash's reaction came a day after Turkey also lashed out over the maneuvers, calling them a potential threat to the Turkish community on the divided island and to peace and stability in the eastern Mediterranean.
The Nikiforos-Toxotis wargames tested the Cypriot National Guard's early-warning air defense capability for the first time and was also attended by Greek fighter jets and warships.
Greek Cyprus has said that during the exercises, Turkish jets buzzed Greek aircraft and engaged in mock dogfights in two separate incidents, while Greek Cypriot anti-aircraft missile radar locked on to two Turkish RF-4s inside Cyprus air space.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey occupied the northern third of the island in response to an Athens-engineered coup in Nicosia seeking to unite the country with Greece – NICOSIA (AFP)
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