Excerpt below:
Since the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, Washington has almost exclusively seen the island as a problem in need of solution. But that dynamic has now quietly changed. Over the past decade, the Republic of Cyprus (ROC) has positioned itself as a critical security partner for an increasingly receptive United States. The bilateral relationship has gradually expanded to include defense, trade, basing, military training and exercises, crisis-response cooperation, and regular strategic dialogue. Given Cyprus’s strategic location, it is perhaps surprising that the initial impetus for this growing security relationship came from Cyprus, not Washington.
In short, despite its ongoing division, Cyprus is emerging as a security producer for the United States and the West. For Nicosia, this relationship serves as an effective deterrent against any future Turkish threat, which remains the ROC’s primary security preoccupation. Beyond that, deepening ties with the United States help boost Cyprus’s international status and provide cover for its growing arms relationships and other security ties with other states, such as France and Israel. Turkey has watched these developments warily, though so far without a forceful response.
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Alan Makovsky is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a Washington-based think tank. He was formerly an official at the State Department and a senior staff member at the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Jonah Brody is a policy analyst at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America.
Read the full piece in in Foreign Policy.