Turkish forces interfered with a military aircraft carrying European defense ministers to an EU meeting in Cyprus on Monday, the Cypriot government said, adding it will lodge formal complaints over the incidents.
“We have been informed by the defense ministers of Greece, the Netherlands and France that during their visit to Cyprus, the aircraft they were on received interference from the illegal Tymbou airport,” Victor Papadopoulos, director of the press office of the president of the Republic of Cyprus, said on Monday in a statement.
He added that in the case of the plane carrying Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias, Turkish fighter jets were also observed operating in the area.
“All this will be duly denounced by the Republic of Cyprus where appropriate,” Papadopoulos said. “The defense minister will today inform the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy [Kaja Kallas], and will also inform the European Council during its proceedings,” he added.
The ministers were flying to Cyprus on Monday for a meeting of EU defense ministers on the island. Cyprus is the current holder of the six-month rotating European Council presidency.
Radio communications with the aircraft were disrupted by controllers operating from the Ercan airport near the town of Tymbou in the Turkish-controlled northern part of Cyprus, Greek and Cypriot officials told POLITICO. In addition, two Turkish F-16 fighter jets took off and tracked at least one of the aircraft carrying the European officials as they approached Cyprus, while maintaining a distance, the officials said.
The incidents involved a military plane transporting Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias, as well as an aircraft carrying French Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin, the officials said. A French official was not immediately available to comment.
A Cypriot official said the aircraft carrying the Dutch representation to Cyprus was also harassed. A Dutch official was not immediately available to comment.
Cyprus has been divided into a Turkish Cypriot north and a Greek Cypriot south since Turkish forces invaded in 1974 in response to a coup backed by Greece. Ankara does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus, which is an EU member country recognized internationally as the sole sovereign authority over the whole island. The Turkish Cypriot north is recognized only by Ankara.
Kursad Hudaverdioglu, head of the Turkish Cypriot air traffic controllers’ trade union, denied the incident and said that the F-16s “took off due to an emergency” and “flew to the north of the island without violating any borders from the moment they took off.” He did not say what the emergency was.
Reports that the Turkish F-16 jets tracked the aircraft of the EU officials are “completely politically motivated,” Hudaverdioglu told the Cyprus Mail, calling the reports a “misrepresentation.”
The Ercan airport lacks international recognition and is not registered as an international airport with the International Civil Aviation Organization.
The incident took place before Cyprus and France were due to sign a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), a defense cooperation accord establishing the legal framework governing the presence of French military personnel on the island.
The agreement was scheduled to be signed Monday in Nicosia by France’s Vautrin and Cypriot Defense Minister Vasilis Palmas.
It will define the terms under which French forces can be stationed, train and operate in Cyprus while respecting national sovereignty. It will cover military coordination and interoperability, defense technology and industry links, joint military exercises and educational activities, personnel exchanges and administrative arrangements for forces operating on each other’s territory.
The Turkish Cypriot administration declared the agreement null and void soon after it was announced in April and expressed concerns that it could alter the balance of power on the island.
Via Politico
