The Greek Cypriot National Guard (GCNG) is conducting the “Nikiforos” military exercise between 9 and 14 October this year.

Nikiforos is a military exercise carried out by the GCNG. The GCNG has been established contrary to the 1959-1960 Agreements founding the Republic of Cyprus. After the Greek Cypriot side abrogated the 1960 partnership state by use of force, the Greek Cypriot militia and the EOKA terorist organization came together under the umbrella of the GCNG and conducted violence against the Turkish Cypriots.

This exercise of the GCNG falls within a period in which the efforts of the Turkish Cypriot side to reach a just and comprehensive solution of the Cyprus question based on the political equality of the two sides could not bear fruit due to the intransigent attitude of the Greek Cypriot leadership. The Greek Cypriot leader Papadopoulos has rejected the constructive proposal of the President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Mr. Mehmet Ali Talat, made on 5 September 2007, which envisaged the solution of the Cyprus question by the end of 2008.

The Greek Cypriot Administration’s insistence on this attitude, which increases tension on the island and jeopardizes stability in the Eastern Mediterranean, instead of responding to the constructive steps of the Turkish Cypriot side, once again reveals the importance of Turkey’s role as a guarantor state in maintaining peace on the island.