Turkish Cyprus criticizes UK’s additional troop deployment on island

Turkish Cyprus has voiced strong opposition to the U.K.’s recent decision to send 700 additional troops, along with warships, aircraft, and submarines, to its sovereign military bases on the island.

The U.K. asserts that they are deploying to evacuate British citizens from Lebanon amidst the ongoing regional crisis.

Zorlu Tore, the speaker of the Turkish Cypriot parliament, expressed his concerns on Saturday, stating that the deployment goes beyond the stated objective of evacuation.

“The U.K. is sending not only soldiers to Cyprus but also warships, aircraft, and submarines,” Tore said.

Increased UK military presence

Tore emphasized that both the U.K. and the U.S. have recently bolstered their military presence in Cyprus.

He criticized their growing involvement, arguing that these nations are providing military and political support to Israel rather than addressing the violence in Gaza.

“The Greek Cypriot administration is also backing Israel’s ongoing military actions in Gaza,” Tore stated, accusing the Greek side of attempting to escalate tensions in collaboration with Western powers.

“The Greek side must also get its act together. It should stop enabling Western countries in the massacres in Gaza,” he added.

Concerns over justifications

Tore further questioned the U.K.’s justification for sending additional troops, suggesting that the official reason for evacuating citizens from Lebanon does not align with the scale of the military buildup.

“Clearly, this is a reinforcement against the risk of a potential war spreading in the region,” he said, implying that broader geopolitical concerns may be at play.

The Turkish Cypriot leader also pointed to Western complicity in the ongoing violence, accusing the U.K., the U.S., and several EU countries of indirectly supporting the conflict in Gaza. “Instead of stopping the attacks, they are providing support to Israel,” he claimed.

Erdogan’s UN remarks

Referring to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s speech at the U.N. General Assembly, Tore highlighted Erdogan’s call for global unity and an end to what he described as genocide in Gaza.

Quoting Erdogan’s statement: “The world is bigger than five,” Tore argued that Western nations are failing to recognize the need for moral leadership and unity in addressing the conflict.