Cyprus missile buy could shift military balance
Sun, 5 Jan 1997 13:40:44 PST
C-reuters@clari.net (Reuter / Michele Kambas)
Copyright 1997 by Reuters
NICOSIA, Cyprus (Reuter) - The decision by Cyprus to buy surface-to-air missiles could result in a dramatic shift in the military balance on the island, already one of the most heavily militarized areas of the world, diplomats said Sunday.
The planned acquisition from Russia of the S-300 system, with a 90 mile range, is the first step by the Cypriot government towards building a credible air defense system.
Diplomats said the missiles would neutralize the air superiority Turkey has had here since 1974, when its troops invaded the northern third of the island in response to a short-lived coup engineered by the military then ruling Greece.
``Basically it can lock onto Turkish planes and take them out in Turkish airspace, which is a significant change over the equipment they (the Greek Cypriots) currently have,'' said one diplomat.
The deal for the missiles was concluded over the weekend but it was unclear when the S-300 missile air defense system would be put into place.
The agreement has raised concern in Turkey, where Turkish Defense Minister Turhan Tayan said the Greek Cypriot authorities were not working for peace.
``This situation will undermine peace in the region,'' Turkey's Anatolian news agency quoted him as saying.
Cyprus says the weapons will be used only for defence.
``The Cyprus Republic has the legitimate right to strengthen its defense capabilities so its people cease to be hostages of the Turkish occupation army,'' Cyprus government spokesman Yiannakis Cassoulides told Reuters.
``None of these arms purchases will be used against anyone unless (we are) attacked,'' he said, saying the build-up was ``proportional'' to Turkish armaments in the north.
United Nations' resolutions on the island have repeatedly called on both sides to cut their military spending.
``The Cyprus government has admitted to some journalists that this is a tactic to get world attention but it is a risky game to play,'' said one diplomat.
International efforts to reunite the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities -- split by a U.N. patrolled cease-fire line since Turkey's 1974 invasion -- under a federal system have gathered pace recently.
One reason is Cyprus's desire to join the European Union. Accession talks are scheduled to start next year but the EU would like to see first a solution to the island's division, also a source of tension between NATO allies Turkey and Greece.
Greece and Turkey also have long been in conflict over islands in the Aegean Sea. Athens has threatened Ankara with war if it advances further south on Cyprus.
Greece and Cyprus have a joint defense pact -- as do Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot administration in the island's north -- and the missiles will be deployed to protect an air and navy base under construction on the island's western coast.
The bases, part of the defense pact with Greece, should be completed this year.
The system is also expected to protect an air corridor between Cyprus and Greece, whose combat aircraft would intervene in the event of renewed hostilities on the island.
Cyprus is only a few minutes away for combat aircraft taking off from the Turkish mainland.
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