Turkish drones in northern Cyprus heighten regional unease

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS, SAMY MAGDY and JOSEF FEDERMAN
Associated Press

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — An air base hosting Turkish drones in the breakaway northern third of Cyprus is ratcheting up unease among neighboring countries. Cyprus and Egypt see the air station as an added instrument of instability in the east Mediterranean region. The Cypriot government views the drone deployment as Turkey using military assets to buttress its control of a region that potentially holds natural gas reserves. The leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots boasted this month that the Bayraktar TB2 drones could be scrambled much faster to “inspect the region” up to the coast of Egypt. Turkey has stationed heavy weapons and troops in northern Cyprus since the island split along ethnic lines in 1974,