Pompeo’s Cyprus Visit a Sign of U.S. Reengagement in the Eastern Mediterranean

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited the Cypriot capital of Nicosia on Saturday to address both Turkey’s ongoing oil and gas exploration in Cypriot and Greek waters as well as Russia’s efforts to exploit tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean. Pompeo’s last-minute decision to add Nicosia to his itinerary reflects Washington’s recognition that U.S. leadership will be necessary to prevent conflict and contain Russia’s growing footprint in the region.

Pompeo’s impromptu stopover came five days after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Cyprus to mark 60 years of diplomatic relations between Moscow and Nicosia. The president of the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades, awarded Lavrov the highest order of merit presented by his country. In Nicosia, Lavrov criticized the “deplorable” U.S. bid to stir up trouble in the Eastern Mediterranean and then invited his Cypriot counterpart, Nikos Christodoulides, to Russia.

Russian outreach to Cyprus has exploited Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s provocative exploration for hydrocarbons in waters claimed by both Cyprus and Greece. During a July phone call, the Cypriot president appealed to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to personally step in so Turkey “is convinced to cease its unlawful actions,” prompting the latter’s pledge to intercede with the Turkish president. During his September 7 visit, Lavrov reiterated Russia’s commitment to “contribute to building good neighborly relations in the event this is requested of us by those involved.”

U.S. concern for Cyprus has grown as Russia has increased its military footprint in the Eastern Mediterranean by starting to expand its naval base in Syria’s Tartus and deploying attack jets and carrying out combat missions in Libya. Last week, U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus Judith Garber accused Russia of “playing a very destabilizing role in the region” and encouraged Nicosia to deny port services to Russian warships, a requirement Pompeo waived on September 1 in his partial lifting of the U.S. arms embargo against Cyprus, which had been in place for more than three decades. During his visit, Pompeo warned about “nations that don’t share our values trying to obtain footholds in the region,” and added, “We know that all the Russian military vessels that stop in Cypriot ports are not conducting humanitarian missions in Syria.”

Pompeo’s Cyprus visit is a sign not only of greater U.S. engagement in the region but also of greater U.S. coordination with transatlantic allies. Ahead of Pompeo’s visit, U.S. Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt reiterated Washington’s “commitment to continued leadership, continued engagement, working with our European allies.” In his remarks to the press on Friday, Pompeo stated that his visit complements phone calls by President Donald Trump with both Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Pompeo then praised Germany’s diplomatic efforts to get Ankara and Athens to “begin their conversations about how to proceed.”

Historically, the greatest progress in defusing Turkish-Greek tensions and solving the Cyprus conflict took place when the United States played a mediating role in close coordination with its European allies. The rise of tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, which provides dividends for autocrats such as Putin and Erdogan, can only be defused with a similar transatlantic response led by Washington. This case yet again shows that retaining U.S. engagement in the region is key to maintaining peace and containing Russian ambitions.

Aykan Erdemir is a former member of the Turkish parliament and senior director of the Turkey Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where he also contributes to FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP). For more analysis from Aykan, the Turkey Program, and CMPP, please subscribe HERE. Follow Aykan on Twitter @aykan_erdemir. Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD and @FDD_CMPP. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.