"Stay away from the Middle East, otherwise the fire will come and find you," said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan addressing Greece and Cyprus. Commenting on the Hezbollah leader's threats, the Turkish Minister argued that "it will not benefit either Cyprus or Greece that this place (Cyprus) and the Greek islands are used for operations in the Middle East". Hakan Fidan also claimed that Cyprus "has become a base used by some countries, especially in operations against Gaza" and that "it is actually a military base".
In an interview with the Turkish channel Hübertürk, Hakan Fidan said that "we are facing a great threat and risk of expanding the conflict. As long as Israel's genocide continues, this danger will continue, we have emphasized from the beginning. And now, especially, at the moment when Lebanon comes to the fore, the factors in Lebanon threaten the Greek Cypriot administration of southern Cyprus" as reported in the Republic of Cyprus. "They act as harbingers," he said.
"On the issue of Cyprus, we warned European and regional actors from the beginning, especially the Greek Cypriot administration of southern Cyprus. This place has turned into a center of operations… After October 7, after the first operations launched by Israel, we see in intelligence reports that the Greek Cypriot administration of southern Cyprus has become a base used by some countries, especially in operations against Gaza . That is, intelligence gathering flights and military flights are constantly being flown from there to Gaza. When we put the issue on the agenda, they suddenly declared this place a logistics base for Gaza. And then we said that this logistical support base is obviously an activity that hides the fact that it is actually a military base," argued Hakan Fidan.
The Turkish Minister continued his claims, saying that “the fact that this place and the Greek islands are used for operations in the Middle East will not benefit either the Greek Cypriot administration or Greece. Our advice, what we said to the Greeks, is 'stay away from these issues', because when you get involved in this way in the ongoing wars in the Middle East, if you become part of them, the fire will come and find you. And we're in the same geography, so [the fire] will come and find us. Therefore, we convey to our competent interlocutors without any hesitation the conclusions we have drawn from observations we make based on data. They are also involved in various things, but all regional actors must realize that there is intense militarization there, and the possibility of something happening here in the region should be prevented."
Source: KYPE