The Greek Cypriot Defence Ministry has reportedly started to “implement the government’s decision to purchase” the Iron Dome missile defence system, with agreements already being signed with Israel. The media did not specify how many batteries the system would be acquired or when they would arrive on the island. It is claimed that the two countries were in discussing the deal since early 2021.
Earlier in March, Greek Cypriot military chief Lieutenant-General
Demokritos Zervakis went on his first official visit to Israel to examine Iron
Dome. “During his visit to Israel, the general will receive a briefing at the
northern border and will visit an Iron Dome air-defence system battery,” the
IDF said in a statement.
The air defence system is designed to intercept and destroy
missiles and rockets heading for populated areas. In October 2021, Greek news
reports indicated that Greek Cyprus was in advanced negotiations with Israel to
purchase Iron Dome batteries.
The history of division
Cyprus is a divided island into two governments. The
Republic of Cyprus was established in 1960 with the London and Zurich
Agreements before the political division. The Greek and Turkish Cypriots were
the two founding communities, while the United Kingdom, Turkiye and Greece were
three guarantor states. The division process started in 1974 when the Greek Junta
that had ruled Greece since 1967 initiated a military coup d'état in Cyprus. The
Junta was a right-wing military dictatorship. On 15 July 1974, the coup
plotters removed the sitting President of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios III, from
office and replaced him with the pro-Enosis ultra-nationalist Nikos Sampson. The
Sampson regime’s ultimate aim was Greece’s annexation of the island. The administration
proclaimed the establishment of the “Hellenic Republic of Cyprus” while the
coup was viewed as illegal by the United Nations. The Sampson regime killed
both Greek and Turkish Cypriots with the ultimate aim of annexation. In
response to the coup, on 20 July 1974, Turkiye initiated the “peace operation”
on the island to save the Turkish lives as it was compliant with the 1960
Treaty of Guarantee. Turkish military took control of the north and divided the
island by the Green Line. The Turkish Cypriots established an independent
government called the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus (TFSC) with the hope of
being a part of the Cyprus Republic with federation rights. The Cyprus Republic
denied them, and in 1983 Turkish Cypriots proclaimed the Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus on the northern part of the island.