DavidSling
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BYANNA AHRONHEIM
JUNE 10, 2017 11:57
Israel and Cyprus have participated in several military drills over the past few months.
IDF commandos complete their training in central Israel. (photo credit:IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
Israel has sent a large number of commandos to Cyprus for the largest land-based joint drill ever to have taken place between the two countries.
According to local media, the week-long exercise will take place in the areas of the Troodos mountains of Cyprus and will focus on scenarios for occupying and liberating villages as well as survival strategies
A reported 400 Israeli commandos as well as attack helicopters and fighter jets will take part in the drill, and according to the Cyprus Mail news-site it is the first time that such a large number of Israeli commandos will take part in a military exercise in Cyprus.
The drill is said to have unnerved Cyprus’ adversary, Turkey, which used to participate in annual joint navy and air force drills with Israel. Following the downgrading of ties between Ankara and Jerusalem following the Mavi Marmara incident in 2011, Israel turned instead to Greece and the Greek Cypriots instead for military exercises of air, sea, and ground forces.
Israel and Cyprus and neighboring Greece are close allies and share a number of strategic interests. While all have shared economic interests, such as the ambitious project to build an undersea gas pipeline from Israel to Cyprus to Crete to mainland Greece, the three countries also hope to keep the Russian-Iranian-Hezbollah axis from growing.
Turkish troops invaded and occupied the northern part of the island of Cyprus in 1974 and relations between Larnaka and Ankara remain tense. On Friday Turkey announced that they would be holding its own military exercise within Cyprus’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) southwest of the town of Paphos.
Also on Friday Turkey’s Energy Minister Berat Albayrak on Friday announced that Turkey would commence “drilling in the Mediterranean before the end of the year,” including in the waters off of northern Cyprus.
On Monday Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, who was speaking at the American Jewish Committee’s (AJC) Global Forum in Washington, said that geostrategic cooperation can serve as the “perfect incentive” to resolve the Cyprus problem.
“This would certainly serve the interests of our key neighboring partners such as Israel, as well as Jordan and Egypt. It is for this reason that efforts to reach a comprehensive settlement that will reunify Cyprus and its people, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots alike, has been at the top of my agenda.”
The two countries have taken part in several military drills in recent months, including In late May when Israel sent representatives to Cyprus to observe the four-day annual maritime search and rescue and non-combatant evacuation Argonaut drill. The exercise saw 22 countries drill on scenarios such as dealing with a terrorist hijacking as well as coping with an influx of civilians fleeing a conflict in the Middle East.
In March Israel participated in a three-day joint military exercise with Cyprus where the Israel Air Force tested Cypriot air defense. Named Onisilos-Gideon, it was the largest drill since 2014 when the two countries agreed to hold joint exercises as part of their military cooperation.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Is...to-Cyprus-for-largest-land-based-drill-496421
JUNE 10, 2017 11:57
Israel and Cyprus have participated in several military drills over the past few months.
IDF commandos complete their training in central Israel. (photo credit:IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
Israel has sent a large number of commandos to Cyprus for the largest land-based joint drill ever to have taken place between the two countries.
According to local media, the week-long exercise will take place in the areas of the Troodos mountains of Cyprus and will focus on scenarios for occupying and liberating villages as well as survival strategies
A reported 400 Israeli commandos as well as attack helicopters and fighter jets will take part in the drill, and according to the Cyprus Mail news-site it is the first time that such a large number of Israeli commandos will take part in a military exercise in Cyprus.
The drill is said to have unnerved Cyprus’ adversary, Turkey, which used to participate in annual joint navy and air force drills with Israel. Following the downgrading of ties between Ankara and Jerusalem following the Mavi Marmara incident in 2011, Israel turned instead to Greece and the Greek Cypriots instead for military exercises of air, sea, and ground forces.
Israel and Cyprus and neighboring Greece are close allies and share a number of strategic interests. While all have shared economic interests, such as the ambitious project to build an undersea gas pipeline from Israel to Cyprus to Crete to mainland Greece, the three countries also hope to keep the Russian-Iranian-Hezbollah axis from growing.
Turkish troops invaded and occupied the northern part of the island of Cyprus in 1974 and relations between Larnaka and Ankara remain tense. On Friday Turkey announced that they would be holding its own military exercise within Cyprus’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) southwest of the town of Paphos.
Also on Friday Turkey’s Energy Minister Berat Albayrak on Friday announced that Turkey would commence “drilling in the Mediterranean before the end of the year,” including in the waters off of northern Cyprus.
On Monday Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, who was speaking at the American Jewish Committee’s (AJC) Global Forum in Washington, said that geostrategic cooperation can serve as the “perfect incentive” to resolve the Cyprus problem.
“This would certainly serve the interests of our key neighboring partners such as Israel, as well as Jordan and Egypt. It is for this reason that efforts to reach a comprehensive settlement that will reunify Cyprus and its people, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots alike, has been at the top of my agenda.”
The two countries have taken part in several military drills in recent months, including In late May when Israel sent representatives to Cyprus to observe the four-day annual maritime search and rescue and non-combatant evacuation Argonaut drill. The exercise saw 22 countries drill on scenarios such as dealing with a terrorist hijacking as well as coping with an influx of civilians fleeing a conflict in the Middle East.
In March Israel participated in a three-day joint military exercise with Cyprus where the Israel Air Force tested Cypriot air defense. Named Onisilos-Gideon, it was the largest drill since 2014 when the two countries agreed to hold joint exercises as part of their military cooperation.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Is...to-Cyprus-for-largest-land-based-drill-496421
