Egypt, Greece, Cyprus defense ministers attend joint military drill

CAIRO - 28 June 2018: Egyptian Defense Minister Lt General Mohamed Zaki and his Cypriot and Greek counterparts on Thursday attended a joint naval and air drill in the Mediterranean Sea.

The drill, dubbed Medusa 6, includes land, sea and air shows for the participating special forces along the coast.


Egyptian naval vessel taking part on the joint naval and air drill between Egypt, Cyprus and Greece on June 27, 2018 - Press photo/Egyptian Armed Forces spokesperson Facebook page

Cyprus is part of the drill for the first time, which makes it the biggest in the Mediterranean Sea, according to the statement of the Egyptian Armed Forces spokesperson, Colonel Tamer al-Refaie.

Egyptian soldiers alongside Greek, Cypriot counterparts during joint naval and air drill between Egypt, Cyprus and Greece on June 27, 2018 - Press photo/Egyptian Armed Forces spokesperson Facebook page

"The drill is part of a plan with friendly countries to enhance the military cooperation and to exchange martial expertise," Col. Refaie stated through his official Facebook page.



Past April, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry held talks with his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides in Cairo, where they discussed the unique relations between Cairo and Nicosia and ways of promoting them in different domains as well as shoring up the work of the tripartite cooperation mechanism involving Egypt, Cyprus and Greece.

Security issues of common interest, developments in Syria and Palestine and countering terrorism were also subject of discussion.

Christodoulides' visit to Egypt is his second since taking office as foreign minister in February.

Contributed by MENA