Cyprus accuses Turkish forces of harassing planes carrying EU defence ministers; Ankara denies
Cyprus said on June 8 that Turkish forces interfered with aircraft carrying the defence ministers of Greece, the Netherlands and France to an EU meeting on the island, with two Turkish F-16s tracking at least one plane and controllers at the unrecognised Ercan airport disrupting radio communications. Nicosia, which holds the rotating EU Council presidency, said it would denounce the incident to EU foreign-policy chief Kaja Kallas and the European Council. Turkey's Disinformation Combat Center and Turkish Cypriot controllers denied any harassment, saying the jets responded to airspace violations and stayed within northern Cypriot airspace.
Cyprus accused Turkish forces of interfering with military aircraft carrying European defence ministers to an EU meeting on the island on June 8 and said it would lodge formal complaints. "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," said Victor Papadopoulos, director of the Cypriot presidency's press office. In the case of the plane carrying Greek Defence Minister Nikos Dendias, he added, Turkish fighter jets were also seen operating in the area.
Greek and Cypriot officials told POLITICO that two Turkish F-16s took off and tracked at least one of the approaching aircraft from a distance, while controllers operating from the Ercan airport near Tymbou, in the Turkish-controlled north, disrupted radio communications. The flights carried Dendias, French Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin and the Dutch delegation. Cyprus, which currently holds the six-month rotating presidency of the European Council, said it would denounce the incident "where appropriate," with its defence minister informing EU foreign-policy chief Kaja Kallas and the European Council.
Turkish and Turkish Cypriot officials rejected the account. Kursad Hudaverdioglu, head of the Turkish Cypriot air traffic controllers' union, said the F-16s "took off due to an emergency" and "flew to the north of the island without violating any borders," calling reports that they tracked the ministers' planes "completely politically motivated." Turkey's Disinformation Combat Center said six aircraft had been flying between Greece and the Greek Cypriot south, that four violated the airspace of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and that two F-16s stationed there for air policing responded but "operated exclusively within TRNC airspace."
The episode unfolded hours before Cyprus and France were due to sign a Status of Forces Agreement in Nicosia, between Vautrin and Cypriot Defence Minister Vasilis Palmas, setting the legal framework for stationing, training and operating French forces on the island. The Turkish Cypriot administration declared the accord "null and void" when it was announced in April, warning it could alter the island's balance of power. Cyprus has been split between a Turkish Cypriot north -- recognised only by Ankara -- and the internationally recognised Greek Cypriot south since Turkish forces invaded in 1974 after a Greece-backed coup, and Ercan airport is not registered with the International Civil Aviation Organization. The confrontation came days after Turkey warned Greece and the Greek Cypriots over their rising defence spending and military cooperation.