The day before he handed over his duty to Donald Trump, U.S. President Joe Biden issued a directive to boost his country’s aid to Greek Cypriots. The move will likely anger Turkish Cypriots on the divided island and Ankara, guarantor of peace. The directive allows Greek Cypriots to buy arms from the U.S. government and get surplus American military equipment.
From the Greek Cypriot perspective, the development is a key step after the United States in 2020 lifted a decades-long arms embargo on the island nation. The Greek Cypriot administration also sees it as an acknowledgment of their reliability as a U.S. partner in the region.
The Greek Cypriot administration helped deliver humanitarian aid to war-torn Gaza by way of a maritime corridor that was established and acting as a transit point for the evacuation of foreign nationals from Mideast conflict zones. “The furnishing of defense articles and defense services” to Cyprus, Biden said in his executive action, “will strengthen the security of the United States and promote world peace.” Greek Cypriot entity is recognized as the Republic of Cyprus by the U.S. and most of the international community. At the same time, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Türkiye reject recognition and call for a solution on the divided island respecting the territorial rights of Turkish Cypriots.
U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus Julie D. Fisher said in a post on the social media platform X that the directive is an “important step in deepening the relationship, enhancing security cooperation and promoting stability” in the region.
Greek Cypriot-U.S. relations have improved significantly in recent years, especially after the 2023 election of Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides, who has underscored Greek Cypriots’ pro-Western stance and commitment to expanding defense ties with the U.S. Christodoulides last month said Greek Cypriots could join NATO once conditions allow for it. He has also invited the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice officials to help train local law enforcement authorities to stop financial crimes.
Since gaining independence from British colonial rule in 1960, successive Greek Cypriot governments embraced a non-aligned foreign policy, walking a fine line between Washington and Moscow.
Biden’s move means Greek Cypriots could purchase U.S.-made armaments at a lower cost because it would be dealing directly with the U.S. government instead of private companies. The Greek Cypriot region, with a gross domestic product of about three-quarters that of the U.S. state of Vermont, will also be eligible for surplus U.S. military equipment.
With the U.S. armaments market closed off to it for decades, European Union-member Greek Cypriots had looked to other countries, including Russia, for weapons. Its current stock includes Soviet-era T80 main battle tanks and TOR-M1 anti-aircraft missile batteries.
“This (memorandum) is a clear recognition of the Republic of Cyprus as a pillar of stability and security in the Eastern Mediterranean, with the potential to further contribute to peace and the management of humanitarian challenges,” the Greek Cypriot presidency said in a statement on Thursday.
Strengthening the U.S.-Greek Cypriot relationship is being watched closely by Türkiye, a NATO ally of Washington, and, in September, criticized the signing of a road map to boost two-way defense cooperation between the United States and Greek Cypriots. Türkiye said the road map was detrimental to the interests of Turkish Cypriots.
Tensions flared on the island last summer after the U.S. sent two warships to the Greek Cypriot administration. The TRNC back then said the military cooperation between the U.S. and Greek Cyprus was intended to be used by the Greek Cypriot administration as an element of threat against it. The TRNC was also outraged following reports that British and U.S. bases on the island support Israel’s attacks on Gaza, with TRNC President Ersin Tatar accusing the Greek Cypriot administration of endangering the island’s 50-year peace period by becoming a logistical base serving Western interests. Britain has two bases in Cyprus, considered independent territories, allowing it to maintain a permanent military presence in the Eastern Mediterranean and conduct highly confidential military and intelligence activities. The bases host an extensive network of British and U.S. intelligence facilities, according to Declassified U.K., which reports on the work of military and intelligence agencies.
Türkiye, too, has recently hit out at attempts by the Greek Cypriot administration to build a naval base on the southeastern coast in collaboration with Greece. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned Ankara would not shy away from constructing naval bases or other maritime structures in northern Cyprus if this proves “necessary.”
The island of Cyprus was split decades ago in Türkiye’s Peace Operation as a guarantor power after a coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island, preceded by years of attacks and persecution by Greek Cypriots on Cypriot Turks, who had withdrawn into enclaves for their safety. The TRNC entirely broke away from the south and declared independence in 1983.
The island has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years. U.N.-backed reunification talks have been in limbo since the last round collapsed at Crans-Montana, Switzerland, in July 2017 between Türkiye, Greece and the U.K. The Greek Cypriot administration joined the European Union in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots thwarted a U.N. plan to end the longstanding dispute. An international embargo against Turkish Cyprus is currently in place in several areas, allowing access to international communications, postal services and transport only through Türkiye. Turkish Cyprus has been committed to demanding a two-state solution that would ensure international recognition and equal sovereignty and status, something the Greek Cypriots reject out of hand. Greek Cypriots wanted reunification to provide for a federation, which the Turkish side said was now impossible.
Biden, formerly a senator from Delaware, which has a sizeable Greek-American community, has championed Greek Cypriot cases against Türkiye for decades. During his tenure as a senator, he repeatedly called on Türkiye to withdraw its troops from the island. Biden’s successor, Trump, is expected to continue good relations with the Greek Cypriot side, as it was clear in a phone call between the president-elect and Greek Cypriot leader Christodoulides last month, where he affirmed commitment to further strengthen the strategic partnership between Greek Cypriots and the U.S. according to media reports.