He added in a television interview with “CNN Turk” that lifting the restrictions “is inexplicable in terms of content and timing.”
And the US State Department said this month that Secretary Anthony Blinken lifted defense trade restrictions on Cyprus, for the 2023 fiscal year.
Erdogan said, “The United States, which condones, and even encourages, the steps of the Greek Cypriots, which threaten peace and stability in the eastern Mediterranean, will lead to an arms race on the island with this step.”
“Are we going to stand by? We can’t,” he added, adding that Turkey already has 40,000 soldiers on the island, and “will reinforce them with land, sea and air weapons, ammunition and vehicles.”
And the Turkish president added: “Everyone should know that this last step will not go unanswered. All necessary precautions will be taken for the security of Turkish Cypriots.”
Cyprus was divided in the wake of the 1974 Turkish invasion triggered by a short Greek-inspired coup, and since then, the island has been run by a Greek Cypriot administration in the south that Ankara does not recognize.
Only Ankara recognizes the breakaway Turkish state on the northern side of the divided island.
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