UNITED NATIONS — Cyprus Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of "hypocritical and provocative" rhetoric over Gaza while warning that Ankara is trying to obstruct a major energy project linking Israel, Cyprus and Europe.

"Turkey has been making threats and has been acting on threats against Cyprus, especially in the exclusive economic zone," Kombos told Fox News Digital in an on-camera interview on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

Kombos pointed to the Great Sea Interconnector, a planned subsea electricity cable linking Israel to Cyprus and Cyprus to Greece, connecting the island to Europe’s power grid.

"The main project of the electrical connection between Greece-Cyprus and then Cyprus-Israel has been blocked by Turkey because of illegal claims they have in terms of delimitation in the exclusive economic zone," Kombos said.

The roughly €1.9 billionUnited Nations Security Council have decided."

The U.N. has recently stepped up efforts to revive the process. Secretary-General António Guterres traveled to Cyprus from July 28–29, meeting separately and jointly with Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman in an effort to advance talks toward a "comprehensive and sustainable settlement."

Kombos also raised concern over the possibility of Turkey obtaining U.S. F-35 fighter jets.

"This is something that is of concern to us, of course, as well as to other countries in the region," he said. "We cannot just accept this as the usual day at the office. This is something that’s important. It’s upsetting regional balances."

At the same time, Cyprus has moved significantly closer to Washington.

Kombos said the U.S.-Cyprus relationship is "probably right now at the highest level we have ever been," pointing to strategic dialogue, military cooperation, joint exercises and work to make Cypriot facilities compatible with assets used by the U.S. and NATO partners.

Earlier this month, Washington renewed Cyprus’ exemption from U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations restrictions for fiscal year 2027, allowing transfers of US defense articles and services. Cyprus is also eligible for U.S. Foreign Military Sales and the Excess Defense Articles program.

"We want to make sure that we are an active, useful partner in the international system," Kombos said, arguing that Cyprus’ location and close ties with Israel, Gulf states, Europe and the US give it an increasingly important regional role.

Fox News' Sydney Finver contributed to this report.