ANKARA: Turkiye is closely monitoring Cyprus’ reported procurement of an Israeli air defense system, Turkish officials said Thursday, warning that the move could destabilize a “fragile balance” on the divided island.
Turkish defense ministry officials expressed concerns over reports suggesting that an Israeli-made Barak MX integrated air defense system had been delivered to Cyprus.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations, said Cyprus’ ongoing armament efforts would threaten peace and stability on the island and may lead to “dangerous consequences.”
The Mediterranean Island has been split along ethnic lines since 1974 when Turkiye invaded in the wake of a coup that aimed to unify the island with Greece. Only Turkiye recognizes a 1983 Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence in the island’s northern third where Turkiye continues to maintain more than 35,000 troops.
The Israeli ground-based system is capable of simultaneously intercepting missiles, drones and aircraft from as far as 93 miles (150 kilometers) away. Its deployment would mark a significant upgrade to Cyprus’ defense shield, which had until recently only consisted of Soviet-era weapons, such as the BUK M1-2 missile system.
Cyprus’ defense minister, Vasilis Palmas, said in an interview with The Associated Press last year that bolstering the country’s defense capacity is critical for the island nation, which is located close to the war-torn Middle East.
Turkiye regards the deployment of the Israeli system as a security threat.
In 1997, Cyprus’ plans to deploy Russian-made S-300 air defense missiles triggered a standoff with Turkiye, which threatened military action. The tensions de-escalated after Cyprus agreed to transfer the missiles to Greece.
The defense officials said that Turkiye remains committed to safeguarding the security of the Turkish Cypriots, adding, without elaborating, that all kinds of measures were being taken to ensure their safety.
Turkiye warns Cyprus’ Israeli air defense system could destabilize island
https://arab.news/nb8hj
Turkiye warns Cyprus’ Israeli air defense system could destabilize island
- The officials said Cyprus’ ongoing armament efforts would threaten peace and stability on the island and may lead to “dangerous consequences”
- Turkiye regards the deployment of the Israeli system as a security threat
Fledgling radio station aims to be ‘voice of the people’ in Gaza
- The electricity crisis is one of the most serious and difficult problems in the Gaza Strip, says Shereen Khalifa Broadcaster
DEIR EL-BALAH: From a small studio in the central city of Deir El-Balah, Sylvia Hassan’s voice echoes across the Gaza Strip, broadcast on one of the Palestinian territory’s first radio stations to hit the airwaves after two years of war.
Hassan, a radio host on fledgling station “Here Gaza,” delivers her broadcast from a well-lit room, as members of the technical team check levels and mix backing tracks on a sound deck. “This radio station was a dream we worked to achieve for many long months and sometimes without sleep,” Hassan said.
“It was a challenge for us, and a story of resilience.”
Hassan said the station would focus on social issues and the humanitarian situation in Gaza, which remains grave in the territory despite a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas since October.
“The radio station’s goal is to be the voice of the people in the Gaza Strip and to express their problems and suffering, especially after the war,” said Shereen Khalifa, part of the broadcasting team.
“There are many issues that people need to voice.” Most of Gaza’s population of more than 2 million people were displaced at least once during the gruelling war.
Many still live in tents with little or no sanitation.
The war also decimated Gaza’s telecommunications and electricity infrastructure, compounding the challenges in reviving the territory’s local media landscape. “The electricity problem is one of the most serious and difficult problems in the Gaza Strip,” said Khalifa.
“We have solar power, but sometimes it doesn’t work well, so we have to rely on an external generator,” she added.
The station’s launch is funded by the EU and overseen by Filastiniyat, an organization that supports Palestinian women journalists, and the media center at the An-Najah National University in Nablus, in the occupied West Bank.
The station plans to broadcast for two hours per day from Gaza and for longer from Nablus. It is available on FM and online.
Khalifa said that stable internet access had been one of the biggest obstacles in setting up the station, but that it was now broadcasting uninterrupted audio.
The Gaza Strip, a tiny territory surrounded by Israel, Egypt, and the Mediterranean Sea, has been under Israeli blockade even before the attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which sparked the war. Despite the ceasefire, Israel continues to strictly control the entry of all goods and people to the territory.
“Under the siege, it is natural that modern equipment necessary for radio broadcasting cannot enter, so we have made the most of what is available,” she said.
