Greek Cypriot AdministrationWhat lifted the arms embargo? USAnow decided to train the Greek army. The US Department of Defense included the Greek army in the special training and cooperation program it applied to the former Warsaw Pact countries. The USA matched the Greek Cypriot administration with the state of New Jersey and declared it a ‘brother’.
SPECIAL COLLABORATION PROGRAM
The US Department of Defense has been using the military program called “State partnership”, which was established to improve training and cooperation between the US army and US state forces, to train the armies of countries that left the former Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union since 2013. Countries included in the cooperation program are paired with one of the American states by declaring them sisters, training and exercises are organized among the armed forces.
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Greek Minister: A VERY IMPORTANT STEP
The US Ministry of Defense, which has lifted the arms embargo on the Greek Cypriot Administration since 1987, announced that they included the Greek Cypriot administration in the interstate military cooperation program. Celeste Wallender, undersecretary of international security relations at the US Department of Defense, visited the Greek Cypriot Ambassador to Washington Marios Lysiotis the previous day and gave information about the details of the program. Greek Cypriot Defense Minister Haralambos Petridis stated that they are very pleased to be included in the training and cooperation program and said, “An important step has been taken to deepen the strategic cooperation with the American army. Our cooperation will continue to develop,” he said.
WEAPON BALANCE
The Greek Cypriot army, which has accelerated its armament efforts in recent years, is trying to replace the Russian-made weapon systems in its inventory with those of Western countries. The Greek army, which ordered helicopters and warships to France, signed a series of military agreements with the USA and Israel. The Greek Cypriot administration is trying to purchase an “Iron Dome” air defense system from Israel to be used against Turkish armed and unarmed unmanned aerial vehicles. After the USA lifted the arms embargo, Turkey decided to reinforce its troops in the TRNC in order to maintain the military balance in Cyprus. Turkey has a corps-level force in the TRNC.
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