Türkiye strongly condemned the inclusion of the Greek Cypriot administration in the State Partnership Program of the U.S. Department of Defence on Monday.

“The U.S. move, two weeks after lifting the arms embargo on the Greek Cypriot administration, has no justification,” the ministry said in a statement.

In a written statement on Monday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that the decision to include the Greek Cypriot side in the US State Partnership Program goes beyond disrupting the balance between the two sides on the island of Cyprus, adding that Washington has “evidently become partial.”

“The U.S. move, two weeks after lifting the arms embargo on the Greek Cypriot administration, has no justification,” the statement read.

On Sept. 16, the U.S. State Department announced the lifting of the arms embargo on the Greek Cypriot administration.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the move, saying it is “in contradiction to the principle of equality of the two sides on the island, and will further strengthen the Greek Cypriot side’s intransigence, will negatively affect the efforts to resettle the Cyprus issue, and will lead to an arms race on the island, harming peace and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean.”