Cyprus, Israel, Greece agree to boost defense cooperation

defense ministers of Greece, Israel and Cyprus agreed on Thursday to step up military cooperation y said will keep ir armed forces better prepared, help create more jobs and bolster security in a fraught region.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said it was agreed during talks in Nicosia to “promote large-scale industry cooperation that will bolster our defense abilities and create thousands of jobs for all three ecomies.”

three countries have forged close ties amid regional tension in Eastern Mediterranean over offshore gas exploitation rights, and are partners in a project to bring gas from fields in Israeli and potentially or nations' waters through an undersea pipeline to Europe's mainland.

Greece's Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos said Greek, Israeli and Cypriot armed forces are working to operate toger more effectively through joint training programs, intelligence sharing and cyber-security.

Panagiotopoulos and Cyprus’ Charalambos Petrides said three countries are looking to expand ir partnership to include or countries such as U.S. whose presence in eastern Mediterranean Greek minister said “is of particular importance” for regional stability.

Greece and Cyprus are embroiled in a dispute with Turkey which has sent gas prospecting vessels into waters claimed by Greece and drilling ships into an area where Cyprus claims exclusive rights. tension brought NATO allies Greece and Turkey close to open conflict in summer and autumn but has since subsided.

Turkey insists that it’s fully within its rights to carry out such prospecting in those waters. It also claims to defend rights of breakaway Turkish Cypriots to energy reserves around war-divided Cyprus.

(Im credit: AP)