TURKISH WARSHIP, SUBMARINE IN CYPRUS THIS WEEK - Cy Mail 21/4 by Tom Cleaver
The Turkish Kilic class corvette the TCG Imbat and the naval submarine the TCG Gur will both sail to Cyprus this week to partake in celebrations to be held in the north for Turkey’s national sovereignty and children’s day.
According to the Turkish Cypriot security forces command, the TCG Imbat will dock in Kyrenia and will be open to the public between 10am and 12pm and between 2pm and 5pm on Thursday.
Likewise, the TCG Gur will dock in Famagusta and will also be open to the public between 10am and 12pm and between 2pm and 5pm on Thursday.
Both vessels are then expected to depart thereafter.
The deployment is unrelated to the fact that after Cyprus was hit by an Iranian-made drone last month, Greece, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the United Kingdom all deployed naval or aerial assets to the island and its vicinity.
Of those deployments, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last week that they “need to not be permanent”, echoing the words of Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman.
“I do not think that the military assets which have come here will be permanent, and I am saying very clearly that they should not be,” he told Turkey’s Anadolu Agency last month.
He added that with an array of military assets arriving in Cyprus, “you actually do not feel secure”.
