Is Cyprus Being 'Turned Into a Military Base'? The Defence Build-Up, the 1960 Treaty of Alliance and What Ankara's New UN Letter Argues

Why It Matters

The reported UN letter reopens a core question of the Cyprus file: whether the 1960 security architecture still functions as a guarantee or has become a source of insecurity for one community. Türkiye's letter places the defence build-up inside that legal frame, while the Greek Cypriot Administration presents its arms policy as a sovereign prerogative. Settling the security question may matter as much to any settlement as the constitutional questions of governance and property.

Background

The current security dispute grows out of a 1959–1960 settlement that deliberately linked independence to guarantees and to limits on armed forces. Those limits eroded after 1963, and the Security Council's 1964 response left the security asymmetry unresolved. Understanding the sequence is essential before judging any recent arms or exercise decision.

The 1959–1960 settlement design

The Zurich and London Agreements of 11 February 1959 set the terms on which the Republic of Cyprus was established in 1960 as a bi-communal partnership state. The 1960 Treaty of Guarantee named Türkiye, Greece and the United Kingdom as guarantor powers, and Article IV of that treaty gave guarantors rights of joint or individual action to restore the state of affairs established by the treaty. The Treaty of Alliance, concluded in the same year among Türkiye, Greece and Cyprus, provided for the stationing of Turkish and Greek contingents on the island and for a tripartite headquarters. The Basic Articles of the 1960 Constitution were designed to balance the security forces between the two communities.

The 1963 collapse and UNSC Resolution 186

The partnership order broke down in December 1963, after Archbishop Makarios proposed constitutional amendments on 30 November 1963 that would have removed the Turkish Cypriot Vice President's veto. Intercommunal fighting followed, and many Turkish Cypriots were displaced from their villages. The UN Security Council's Resolution 186 of 4 March 1964 established the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). Türkiye argues that the resolution's treatment of the Greek Cypriot administration as the 'Government of Cyprus' institutionalised an asymmetry, a point the Greek Cypriot side rejects. The Greek Cypriot National Guard, which was built after 1963 as a single-community force, remains the core of the security asymmetry that the current letter criticises.

What the letter says

According to the Greek City Times report of 14 November 2026, the letter was written by the TRNC representative in New York, Murat Soysal, addressed to the UN Secretary-General and forwarded by Ankara for circulation as a General Assembly and Security Council document. The report states that the letter criticises Greek Cypriot defence spending, arms deals and exercises, and alleges airspace violations by Cypriot and Greek aircraft. We have not reproduced any sentence from the letter because we could not verify the text against the UN document itself, and the report's phrase 'turning the island into a military base' should be read as a press paraphrase until the primary text is checked.

Demilitarisation record and recent arms access

UN Security Council resolutions on Cyprus, including 186 (1964) and 541 (1983), together with Secretary-General reports since the 1990s, have referred to the need to reduce the military presence and to build confidence between the communities. Some commentary cites specific defence-spending language from those years, but such citations should be checked word by word against the UN texts before use. Against that record, reporting since 2020 describes US waivers that eased arms-embargo restrictions on the Republic of Cyprus, base-access upgrades, and expanding defence cooperation with Israel, France and Greece. Mitsotakis, in a weekly review reported on 15 November 2026, said three international bids had been received for offshore hydrocarbon surveys and referred to progress on the Crete–Cyprus electricity interconnection. Türkiye has objected to surveys in areas where it asserts continental shelf rights.

Key Players & Positions

The main actors frame the security question from different legal starting points. Each position below is attributed to the official source that states it, and none is presented as a neutral summary of the others.

Türkiye and the TRNC

Ankara and the TRNC hold that the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee and Treaty of Alliance remain the legal basis of the island's security order. They argue that a single community's armed build-up cannot be treated as a sovereign act within a partnership settlement. The TRNC representative in New York is the reported author of the letter.

The Greek Cypriot Administration and Greece

The Presidency of the Republic of Cyprus and the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs present defence policy as the legitimate prerogative of an EU member state, justified by regional instability. The Greek Cypriot side rejects the claim that its arms policy threatens the Turkish Cypriot community and considers airspace allegations to be unfounded. Both governments have also objected to Türkiye's maritime and military activity near the island.

The EU and the UN

The EU has consistently supported a settlement under UN auspices and its member state's position on defence, but it has no formal role in adjudicating the 1960 guarantee system. The UN Secretary-General's good offices, now conducted through the Personal Envoy María Ángela Holguín, continue to encourage talks. The 15 October 2024 New York trilateral meeting confirmed differences on the federal model and left the security question open.

Source Comparison

The same reported facts receive different framing depending on the source. The table compares how the main outlets, Turkish and TRNC official sources, UN documents and think-tank or EU sources describe the issue. Where a press phrase differs from the primary text, the difference is flagged.

Key Terms & Related Guides

• Guarantor powers: Türkiye, Greece and the United Kingdom under the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee. For a fuller explanation, see What Does a Guarantor State Actually Do? The 1960 Treaty of Guarantee, Fidan's TRNC Visit and the Holguín Process.
• Treaty of Alliance: the 1960 agreement among Türkiye, Greece and Cyprus on the stationing of contingents.
• UNSC Resolution 186 (1964): the Security Council resolution that established UNFICYP.
• Lasting settlement: the search for a durable solution, discussed in What Would a Lasting Settlement in Cyprus Look Like?.
• Confidence-building measures: the subject of the 9 November trilateral meeting analysis.
• Eastern Mediterranean context: The Eastern Mediterranean Conference Proposal: Can Dialogue Replace the Maritime Standoff?

For related sister analyses: Regional Observer on US arms access and base upgrades explains the post-2020 arms developments, Regional File's annotated 1959–1960 treaty documents provides the treaty texts, and Foreign Context on reading Cyprus headlines examines how 1960, 1963 and 1974 are reported. For the broader framework, see Treaties That Keep the Peace and the Editorial Principles.

The Longpeace presents global and regional affairs with a dedicated perspective from Türkiye. Sections marked 'Türkiye's Position' reflect official Turkish policy as stated by Turkish government sources.

The Longpeace Editorial Team