NICOSIA, Cyprus — Cyprus on Thursday hailed a U.S. memorandum allowing military sales, including arms, to the island as a milestone affirming recognition of the island as a pillar of stability in the east Mediterranean region which has been fraught with conflict.

U.S. President Joe Biden boosted security ties with Cyprus on Wednesday by issuing a memorandum that makes the island eligible to receive American defense articles, military sales and training.

Cyprus has over the years played a key role in evacuating people out of conflict zones and established a maritime corridor for aid to war-ravaged Gaza last year.

“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 Cypriot presidency said in a statement.

The foreign ministry of the breakaway Turkish Cypriot administration in northern Cyprus said the U.S. decision showed Cyprus’ internationally recognized Greek government would “continue its arms race as if it were preparing for war.”

“We call on the countries that support the warmongering of the Greek Cypriot side to act by calculating the consequences of these actions and to be sensible,” the statement said, adding it would keep taking steps with Turkey to protect the security of its citizens.

Cyprus was close to Russia for decades, but there has been a marked shift in allegiances in recent years.

Many in Cyprus have drawn parallels between Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus in 1974, and EU-member Cyprus has followed its peers in adopting sanctions on Moscow. It is now getting FBI expertise in countering illicit finance.

The U.S. embassy in Nicosia said access to U.S. programs would enable greater interoperability to respond to regional humanitarian crises, counter malign influence, and combat terrorism and transnational organized crime.

The deepening in ties between the U.S. and Cyprus has been closely followed by Turkey, which in September criticized the pair’s signing of a roadmap to boost defense co-operation.

The 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus followed a brief Greek-inspired coup after years of sporadic violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots that had led to the collapse of a power-sharing administration in 1963.
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