The crescendo of Turkish provocation regarding the Cyprus issue continues, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan repeating inflammatory statements despite messages of condemnation from the West.
"We will continue the fight for the recognition of the [unrecognised] "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus"," said the president of Turkey in his communication with the leader of the pseudo-state Ersin Tatar.
As reported by SKAI, commenting on reports that the pseudo-state is becoming an observer member of the Organization of Turkic States, Erdoğan stated that they will continue the fight together in accordance with the "historic call" he made to the international community in his speech in the United Nations General Assembly for the recognition of the "TRNC".
Clearly denouncing Turkish provocation and inflammatory rhetoric, US Senator Robert Menendez closed the door to Turkey on the purchase of F-16 fighter jets. At the same time, he described the Turkish president as an authoritarian while declaring that he is talking to dictators and that his behaviour also threatens American interests.
“As long as I am chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and have a say in the sale of military equipment, I will not agree to sell F-16s to Turkey,” Menendez stressed, adding: “We should not reward a country that is aggressive towards its neighbours."
Referring to Erdoğan, Menendez said: “He calls Cypriots and those who love freedom, enemies. He works with some of the world’s most brutal dictators, from China’s Xi Jinping to Russia’s Putin.”
“Erdoğan sees the illegal annexation of part of Ukraine and takes note. Because he wants to do the same in northern Cyprus and annex the occupied territories," he continued.
The Senator said he was pleased that US President Joe Biden had decided to end the arms embargo on the Republic of Cyprus, but opposed Biden’s idea to sell Turkey more F-16s and upgrade the Turkish Air Force.
“Today the threat of annexation of the occupied areas in Cyprus must be taken seriously. That being said, I do not believe that the US should put the F-16 fighters in the hands of President Erdoğan.
“And that is why, as chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I will not approve the sale of any F-16 to Turkey until it stops its campaign of provocations in the wider region,” he said.
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