Yusuf Soykan Bal
25 June 2026•Update: 25 June 2026
Türkiye's National Defense Ministry on Thursday welcomed the memorandum of understanding reached between the US and Iran, urging all parties to preserve the agreement and continue technical negotiations in a responsible manner.
Speaking at the ministry's weekly press briefing, spokesperson Zeki Akturk said Israel remained the biggest obstacle to reconciliation efforts by maintaining an aggressive posture in southern Lebanon despite the agreement.
He called on the international community to adopt a firmer stance against Israeli policies and take concrete steps to prevent attempts to undermine the diplomatic process.
“Türkiye will continue to contribute to efforts aimed at preserving regional peace and stability,” Akturk said.
Israel's genocidal war in Gaza since October 2023 has killed over 73,000 Palestinians and injured more than 173,000, most of them women and children, according to Palestinian figures.
Cyprus
The ministry also reaffirmed Ankara's position on Cyprus, saying any initiative that ignores the rights of Turkish Cypriots or seeks to alter the current balance on the island would be unacceptable.
“The security of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is Türkiye's security,” the ministry said, reiterating its support for a two-state solution based on the sovereign equality and equal international status of Turkish Cypriots.
Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.
Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.
In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was founded in 1983.
It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece, and the UK.
The Greek Cypriot Administration entered the European Union in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots single-handedly blocked a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.
German Patriot system
Separately, the ministry announced that a German Patriot air defense system has been deployed at Kurecik in the eastern province of Malatya under NATO's Standing Defense Plan to strengthen the alliance's air defense posture.
The German system assumed the mission from a US Patriot battery stationed in the same area on June 24.
The ministry also said the International Anatolian Eagle 2026 exercise, originally scheduled for June 22-July 3, had been revised in light of current geopolitical developments and the NATO Summit to be held in Türkiye on July 7-8.
The exercise is now being conducted as the Trilateral Eagle Exercise with the participation of Türkiye, Azerbaijan and Egypt. Azerbaijan is taking part with two SU-25 aircraft, while Egypt has deployed five F-16 fighter jets.
Separately, Akturk said NATO's Amphibious Task Force Command and Landing Force Command, led by Türkiye from July 1, 2025, will be transferred to the Netherlands on June 30.
*Writing by Merve Berker
