We will no longer accept Turkey's aggression in East Mediterranean - U.S. Senator

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez on Sunday said the United States will not tolerate Turkey's violations in the Eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus Mail reported.

"We made it clear that we will no longer accept Turkey’s aggression in the Eastern Mediterranean region," the newspaper quoted Menendez as saying.

The U.S. Senator said that the Americans “need to increase the support that will allow Greece to fulfil its commitments under NATO” and to lift the arms embargo against the Republic of Cyprus, that imposed in 1987 in order to encourage reunification by preventing an arms race on the island.

Cyprus was split in 1974 following a Turkish invasion in the wake of a coup aimed at union with Greece. Turkish Cypriots founded a breakaway state on the northern part of the island recognised only by Turkey.

A bill aiming to lift the arms embargo on Cyprus was introduced last year to the U.S. Congress but was not enacted.

Turkey has been in a bitter dispute with the United States over the detention of some American citizens in the country and Ankara's deal on purchasing a Russian defence system, and also with Greece and Cyprus over the island's exclusive economic zone and drilling hydrocarbons in the Eastern Mediterranean.