Turkey warns against planned French troop deployment to Cyprus

Ankara has voiced alarm at Cyprus’s announcement that France will deploy soldiers on the Mediterranean island, warning it could escalate tensions as Cyprus and Greece deepen defence ties with Turkey’s rival Israel.

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides stated that the French deployment is part of a Status of Forces Agreement to be signed in June. Christodoulides downplayed Turkish concerns, stating that any French deployment would serve “humanitarian purposes”.

Cyprus has remained divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded following a coup backed by Greece. The north is governed by a Turkish Cypriot administration recognised only by Turkey.

“These things are happening because we feel very insecure – it is 40,000 Turkish troops on the island in an aggressive posture,” said former Cypriot ambassador Euripides Evriviades. “The insecurity on the island stems directly from the continued occupation and violations of human rights that come with any occupation.”

International relations professor Serhat Guvenc of Istanbul’s Kadir Has University said: “Turkey and France are geopolitical rivals. They have been competing with each other in Africa and the eastern Mediterranean.” Guvenc added: “France is inclined to view Turkey as a potential revisionist power, pursuing hegemonic aspirations in the region.” He said Cyprus is a small island and a concentration of military power without unified command could lead to unwanted escalation.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan warned that the alignment of Cyprus, Israel and Greece is an attempt to “encircle Turkey”. Ankara fears that such a military alliance could be used to advance Greek and Cypriot claims over the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas, where Turkey and Greece have multiple territorial disputes.

Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, head of the German Marshall Fund office in Ankara, warned that the region is caught in a growing cycle of distrust, and any new military deployment to Cyprus is likely to prompt a reciprocal response. “Turkey could make new deployments, drones, even fighter jets,” he said. Unluhisarcikli also cautioned that renewed tensions over Cyprus are a dangerous distraction from the ongoing Russian threat. “At a time when the transatlantic community at large is facing much larger external threats, NATO allies should not be posturing against each other, and that's what we are seeing. This is unacceptable.”

“The Cyprus problem is no longer the Cyprus problem per se, but has become a part of the wider geopolitical rivalries in the region,” said Guvenc.