Turkey Still Fuming Over The US Decision To Lift Its 35-Year-Old Arms Embargo On Cyprus

US Army CH-47 Chinook helicopters fly over the coast of Cyprus in January 2020. US Army/Maj. Robert Fellingham  

Insider: A quiet US move in the Mediterranean may help put more pressure on Russia, but not everyone in NATO is happy about it 

* The US lifted its 35-year-old arms embargo on the Republic of Cyprus in September. 

* That could allow Cyprus to receive modern US arms and to send its Russian-made weapons to Ukraine. 

* But the US decision has rankled Turkey, which is at odds with NATO ally Greece over the island. 

In September, the US lifted its longstanding arms embargo on the Republic of Cyprus, allowing the island country to purchase or receive US arms beginning in October. 

 The embargo was imposed in 1987 to limit the amount of weaponry on the island in support of efforts to reunify the Republic of Cyprus and a Turkish-occupied region on the northern part of the island. 

The US partially lifted the embargo in 2020, and the decision now to lift it fully reflects the shifting geopolitical situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and is a sign of reduced Russian influence in the region.  

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WNU Editor: The whole purpose of lifting the arms embargo on Cyprus was to permit Cyprus to receive modern US arms while sending its Russian-made weapons to Ukraine. Apparently that is not going to happen .... Anastasiades: Cyprus will not send weapons to Ukraine (Ekathimerini), but Turkey is still fuming.