The occupying army’s military exercise off the coast of Famagusta violates every concept of law on land, at sea, and in the air within Cypriot territory.

Ankara presents the Turkish search and rescue zone as a single area that includes the Cypriot territorial waters of the occupied territories.

“In the ‘TRNC,’ the search and rescue exercise ‘Martyr Cianer Gioneli 2026’ is underway. The land phase is currently underway, and the scenario is that a passenger plane crashed on Pentadaktylos.”

During the exercise, drones were used for reconnaissance, along with warships, helicopters, and aircraft of the Turkish Armed Forces.

The exercise was organized by the Turkish Army’s Land, Naval, and Air Force Commands of the Turkish Armed Forces, while military attachés from Azerbaijan, Pakistan, and Libya participated as observers.

“We are monitoring the military exercise in the Eastern Mediterranean in the ‘TDBC,’ in an area within Turkey’s search and rescue zone, which includes the airspace, territorial waters, and land area of the ‘TRNC.’”

The naval phase of the exercise, which took place yesterday, was observed by Turkish Deputy Minister of the Interior Kubra Guran and Unal Ustel, who sent messages regarding sovereignty and the two-state solution.

“The ‘TRNC’ is not alone. The Blue Homeland is our guarantee.” ^{Ünal Ustel, the so-called Prime Minister}

A crescendo of violations

A total of 520 airspace and 23 maritime violations of Cyprus by Turkey were recorded between March and May. In a letter to António Guterres, Cyprus’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations denounced the violations of the Republic of Cyprus’s airspace and territorial waters, which occur on an almost daily basis.

103 violations were carried out by military UAVs, mainly BAYRAKTAR, 196 by fighter jets, while Turkish vessels violated territorial waters on 23 occasions and illegally used the ports of Kyrenia and Famagusta. Turkish F-16s violated the Nicosia FIR 36 times. The violations peaked in April, reaching 94, while another 66 were recorded in May.

See the report by Christoforos Nestoros