Turkey slams France over deployment of warplanes to Cyprus

The Turkish Foreign Ministry considered that “the landing of French military aircraft in the Republic of Cyprus under the pretext of conducting maneuvers violates the 1960 Treaty.”
The Turkish Foreign Ministry stated that, with this step, France “seriously encourages Greece, which is responsible for the tension in the eastern Mediterranean, to escalate the tension further.”
The ministry confirmed that Turkey “will thwart all attempts by those who seek to exclude Ankara and Turkish Cyprus, in the eastern Mediterranean.”
The Greek Ministry of Defense announced that Greece, France, Italy and Cyprus will hold military exercises from Wednesday, August 26 to Friday, August 28 to the south of the island of Crete in the eastern Mediterranean, where tensions have recently escalated between Athens and Ankara.
“Cyprus, Greece, France and Italy have agreed to deploy a joint presence in the eastern Mediterranean within the framework of the Quartet Cooperation Initiative (SQAD),” the ministry said in a statement.
The statement pointed out that “tension and instability in the eastern Mediterranean have increased disagreements on issues regarding the maritime domain (demarcation of borders, migrations, the influx of refugees …)”.
In addition, the Turkish Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday that exercises will be held in the eastern Mediterranean.
It explained that the Turkish “TCG Barbaros” frigate, the Turkish “TCG Burgazada” corvette, and the American destroyer “USS Winston S. Churchill”, carried out the exercises in the Eastern Mediterranean.