The Greek Cypriot Ministry of Defense announced on Monday that its annual war games have been canceled again this year to avoid ratcheting up tensions amid ongoing talks to reunify the ethnically divided island.
The ministry said in a statement on Monday that the decision to call off this week’s three-day maneuvers was made even though Turkey hasn’t said whether it will also cancel a military exercise it holds jointly with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC). The ministry said it expects Turkey to follow suit. KKTC presidential spokesperson Osman Ertuğ, in a written statement released on Tuesday, said the KKTC had decided not to hold the Toros military exercises this year in order to hold UN-led reunification talks between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders.
Toros is a joint military exercise of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the KKTC Security Forces Command, held every year in response to the Nikiforos military exercises of Greece and Greek Cyprus. Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders have been holding negotiations since September 2008 -- the latest of many mediation efforts -- after the previous leaders of the two communities committed themselves to working towards a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation with political equality, as defined by relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
The sides have been cancelling military exercises in mutual agreement since 2008, soon after the new round of negotiations to unify the island began.
