A US Air Force assessment team will be in Cyprus this week, Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis, said Tuesday emphasising that deepening military cooperation with allied forces decisively contributes to maintaining peace and stability in the region.
During a press briefing at the Presidential Palace, Letymbiotis said that an assessment team from the US Air Force’s 435th Contingency Response Squadron will be in Cyprus this week.
The team in question, which is based in Germany, the Government Spokesperson said, is to visit the “Andreas Papandreou” Air Base in Paphos, “with the main objective of providing expertise and recommendations on new infrastructure projects, which will enhance our interoperability with the United States and our partners”.
According to Letymbiotis, the assessment will cover, among other things, areas such as airport operations, logistics, and communications, “thus supporting the modernisation and upgrading of our defence capabilities”.
“The deepening of military cooperation with allied forces decisively contributes to maintaining peace and stability in the region”, he noted.
He also said that the upgrading of infrastructure, the provision of modern means, and the investment in human resource training were “key pillars of our national strategy for an effective and flexible defence shielding”.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
