The tiny communities on the outskirts of Limassol got a close-up view of the loud, spectacular explosions in the joint France-Cyprus military games carried out today near Agios Giorgos Alamanos coastal village.
Bright lights and smoke trails from the munitions could be seen over the horizon from Moni village, and the thunderous bombardment went on for most of the day.
As the EU prepares to start enforcing its own borders to limit uncontrolled migration and boost military security in the wake of terrorist attacks in its capitals, the military exercises here are seen as a message to Turkey. Cyprus is the last EU country before reaching Turkey and the Middle East.
Turkey-EU relations freeze
Last week, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to freeze Turkey’s EU membership talks, following the recent months of human rights abuses by the government, which has imprisoned tens of thousands of individuals, including teachers, journalists, opposition MPs and lawyers.
The purge came after the attempted coup in July, but is an extension of the Turkish government’s already poor record on human rights abuses of minorities and political opposition groups.
It appears that the choice has been made for Turkey, which is now left out in the cold.
Greece-Turkey relations worsen
Relations between Greece and Turkey are distinctly chilly ever since Turkish President Erdogan said he was dissatisfied with Turkey’s borders, which were laid out in the Treaty of Lausanne after World War I.
“Any dispute of the Treaty of Lausanne is inconceivable and unacceptable since it would be a blatant violation of international law, for which the treaty was fought, and would undermine not only the borders of Greece, but also of the European Union…” said Greek President Pavlopoulos in earlier comments.
Sabre rattling
As expected, at least by this writer, Erdogan’s move towards authoritarianism has dimmed the prospects for a local solution to Cyprus’ complex political problem as relations worsen between Greece and Turkey, which have opposing positions on security guarantees towards the island.
Turkey is in breach of the 1960 limited security guarantee terms after it invaded and set up a long-term occupation of Cyprus in 1974. The other two guarantors – Greece and the UK – signaled that they were willing to give up their guarantor powers under a reunification deal, but with the recent turn for the worse in Turkey’s domestic politics, Ankara is unlikely to follow suit.
Although President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish-Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci have made a lot of progress in reunification negotiations, most recently they were unable to agree on the terms of territorial adjustments in a federal, bi-zonal, bi-communal state. Akinci has reversed his original position on the Cyprus problem, and has adopted a hardline stance after being influenced by Turkey which is moving away from democracy and EU membership and towards domestic dictatorship and regional expansion. The end result has been negative for a local solution after the talks on territorial issues held in Mont Pelerin, Switzerland, ended in disagreement.