The Cypriot goverment lodged a renewed protest with the US ambassador in Nicosia yesterday regarding the use of US-supplied weapons by the Turkish occupation forces in the north of the island republic.

The verbal protest was prompted by a comment on Wednesday by US State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli that the use of US military equipment by Turkish forces was governed by legal agreements.

“Those agreements were followed. So it’s not particularly controversial. It shouldn’t be,” said Ereli.

The Cyprus government had lodged an initial protest after US-made weapons were displayed during a military parade in the occupied part of the capital Nicosia on 20 July, the 30th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, according to the Cyprus News Agency, which reported yesterday that Cypriot Defense Minister Kyriakos Mavronicolas said the ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs would explain the basis of their position on the issue.