Russia Ukraine war, page-117393

Over in Cyprus the newly installed president, Nikos Christodoulides, has gone out of his way to denounce Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, barely 10 days after he assumed power.

In his first interview with a foreign TV channel, Christodoulides told Greece’s state broadcaster, ERT, that opposing Moscow’s self-styled “special military operation” put the island on the “right side of history”.

“As a country that has suffered something similar, we could not have a different stance,” he said, referring to the 1974 Turkish invasion, which saw the northern third of the island being seized by troops sent in by Ankara.

The invasion was ordered after Greek rightwingers staged a coup aimed at uniting the Mediterranean country with Greece – a move that prompted Ankara to invade in the name of protecting the island’s Turkish Cypriot community. Talks aimed at reuniting the island have repeatedly foundered ever since.

Before last year’s invasion, Greek Cypriots enjoyed strong ties with Russia, so much so that the island had earned the moniker of “Moscow on the Med”. Limassol, the republic’s second-largest city, has long been home to a flourishing Russian community including companies closely connected to allies of Putin.

The extent of the ties are such – economically, politically and culturally – that the new president’s predecessor, Nicos Anastasiades, hesitated condemning the invasion last February.

Cyprus’s about–turn as an EU member state has incensed Russia, as has that of Athens. Unlike Greece, Cyprus is not a Nato member. As a member of the alliance, Greece has not only criticised the invasion but allowed US bases on its soil to be used to deliver weapons, including tanks, to Ukraine.

Hours before the ERT interview was aired, Moscow’s ambassador to Cyprus, Murat Zyazikov, a former KGB operative and close Putin ally, told Russia’s state-run news agency he believed relations between the two countries were still strong despite “temporary political adventures”.

In a noticeable change of tone that may speak to Moscow’s increasing sense of isolation, Zyazikov said: “I’d like to stress that the people of Cyprus were, are, and will always remain friendly with us. These are not just words … The friendship between our two peoples is based on mutual feelings of affinity between common people, on the close historic, spiritual and cultural relations between our two countries over centuries. I don’t think that any temporary political adventures can hurt this friendship.”