According to information from Washington, the US will soon start lifting a decades-old arms embargo on Cyprus.
The reason for that is that the US understands the Mediterranean island nation’s contribution to bolstering regional stability and security as well as the potential of closer cooperation between the two countries.
Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides said that Washington sees the “added value” of allowing Cyprus to acquire military equipment that would help enhance its capabilities to support regional security.
The embargo was imposed in 1987 with the aim of preventing an arms buildup that would hamper diplomatic efforts to reunify the divided island.
However, it has been difficult all these years for the US diplomacy to support with valid arguments how Cyprus’ security, as well as regional security, are served by this embargo, given that Cyprus is the weaker party on this dispute and the victim of Turkish aggression.
Christodoulides said the process to lift the embargo has been set in motion in the US Congress, reflecting a “positive shift” in that Washington no longer views Cyprus solely as an unsettled conflict of ethnic division.
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