A SENIOR US envoy predicted yesterday that Greek Cypriots would not deploy Russian made missiles, whose purchase has sparked Turkish threats of attack.
"It's my personal expectation that those missiles will never come to the island," US envoy Mr Cyprus Carey Cavanaugh, told reporters after arriving in Ankara for talks with Turkish officials.
"This (the missiles) is not something we support, not something we favour," he said. "This is already one of the most militarised regions of the world. Security for Cyprus would be much better served with far fewer troops, far fewer arms."
The Greek Cypriot government said on January 4th it had reached an agreement with Russia to buy S-300 ground to air missiles. Turkey said the long range missiles threaten itself and Turkish Cypriots and warned of political and military action, including armed strikes, to prevent their deployment.
During Mr Cavanaugh's visit to Cyprus on Monday, President Glafkos Clerides, leader of the Greek Cypriots, said his government would not deploy the missiles for 16 months. Turkish officials claimed the deployment would technically last 16 months anyway.