Nicosia: The prime minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on Tuesday criticized a trilateral summit between Israel, Greece, and the Greek Cypriot Administration, warning that emerging military cooperation risks escalating tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean.

According to Anadolu Agency, in a written statement on the summit held Monday in Jerusalem, Unal Ustel said the meeting signaled a move toward confrontation rather than peace, stability, and cooperation in the region. The TRNC is closely monitoring the summit held by Israel, Greece, and the Greek Cypriot Administration, as well as reports regarding plans to establish a joint military force, he said.

Ustel highlighted that proposals to form a 2,500-strong 'rapid intervention force,' presented as a deterrent against Trkiye and Turkish Cypriots, amounted to 'a new and dangerous threat' to peace in the Eastern Mediterranean. He accused Israel of attempting to transfer instability into the region through its aggressive policies in the Middle East.

The TRNC premier further criticized the involvement of Greece and the Greek Cypriot Administration in what he termed a 'dangerous game,' calling it a historic miscalculation. He accused the Greek Cypriot leadership of presenting itself as supportive of a settlement internationally while pursuing military alliances aimed at Trkiye.

Marking the anniversary of the events known as 'Bloody Christmas,' Ustel condemned the revival of what he described as the same aggressive mentality through current military plans, instead of learning from history. He stressed that the mentality responsible for the bloodshed in 1963 is the same that seeks to establish an anti-Trkiye military force today.

Ustel asserted the inseparability of the TRNC and Trkiye, warning that any military plan, pipeline project, or political alliance that ignores their rights is 'doomed to fail from the outset.'

The Cyprus issue has remained unresolved for decades, with intercommunal violence in the 1960s forcing Turkish Cypriots into enclaves and prompting Trkiye's military intervention in 1974. The TRNC was declared in 1983, and despite repeated UN-led efforts, a comprehensive settlement remains elusive. The Greek Cypriot Administration joined the European Union in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots rejected a UN-backed reunification plan in a referendum.