‘Surprise’ revealed: missiles on parade

By Martin Hellicar

THE ‘SURPRISE’ Disy leader Nicos Anastassiades promised for the October military parade will be the appearance of TOR-M1 short-range missiles, further reports suggested yesterday.In a recent speech to the Disy youth wing, Anastassiades said those who doubted the potency of the joint defence pact with Greece should watch the October 1 military march-past.The ruling party’s leader was keen to prove that the decision not to bring the S-300 missiles to Cyprus did not mean the island’s defence was going to the dogs.Military sources have now revealed that the weapons Anastassiades spoke of are Russian-made TOR-M1s, Politisnewspaper reported yesterday.There was no official confirmation of the reports, but this is not the first time stories of TOR-M1s coming to Cyprus have made the headlines.Politissaid six of the missile systems would be arriving as part of a deal struck with Greece when the long-range S-300s were redirected to Crete.The decision last December 29 not to deploy the Russian- made S-300 ground to air missile system, bought and paid for, was a humiliating setback for the government.President Clerides had won re- election in February 1998 on the back of promises to deploy the £200 million missiles despite Turkish threats to destroy them if they arrived.But mounting pressure from the UN, US and EU — who feared deployment of the S-300s could spark a war in Cyprus — finally forced Clerides to swallow his pride and have the missiles sent to Crete instead.The S-300s had been ordered to provide air defence cover for the Paphos air base so that the airstrip could be used by the Greek Air Force as part of the joint defence pact.Opposition parties claimed the pact had been dealt a severe blow by the missile redirection.Politissaid yesterday that Athens had agreed last January to provide the Cyprus National Guard with six TOR-M1s as recompense for S-300s going to Greece. The missiles will reportedly arrive early next month and will be put on show for the traditional October Independence Day parade.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.