The United States announced that it will conduct military training with the Greek Cypriot government that claims to represent the whole Island with the name of the Republic of Cyprus. The training will be for the first time. The United States announced the move Wednesday.

The announcement came months after the US Congress late last year ended an arms embargo on the entire island, imposed in 1987 to prevent an arms race and encourage a peaceful settlement.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey intervened in response to an Athens-inspired Greek Cypriot coup aimed at uniting the eastern Mediterranean island with Greece.

Greek Cypriot government on Thursday hailed US decision to provide it with military training funds for the first time. Greek Cypriot government spokesman Kyriacos Koushos called it “another action contributing to further upgrading Cyprus' relations with the United States.”

The programme seeks to train foreign officers and increase friendly nations' interoperability with the US military.