By Bosphorus News Defense Desk
Republic of Cyprus Defense Minister Vasilis Palmas said Friday, September 4, that Greece, Israel and the Republic of Cyprus all face Türkiye as a threat, explicitly linking the newly signed Greece-Israel Achilles Shield air defense agreement to the island's security.
Israel and Greece signed the approximately €3 billion deal in Tel Aviv on August 31 without naming Türkiye or any other country as its target.
Palmas, speaking after a ceremony for Cypriot students heading to military academies in Greece, described Achilles Shield as bilateral cooperation between Greece and Israel but said it also provided protection for Cyprus.
"To be clear and precise, we mean that all three countries face Turkey as a threat," he said.
Palmas then set out the security concerns he believes the three countries have in common. The Republic of Cyprus, he said, has lived with 52 years of occupation. Greece faces what it considers violations of its airspace and maritime areas and breaches of international law. Israel, he added, also has problems in its relations with Türkiye.
He said close political relations and military cooperation at several levels allowed the three countries to coordinate and seek joint "ways and synergies" to address those risks, with the stated aim of strengthening regional security and protecting their territorial integrity and sovereignty.
The Republic of Cyprus is not a signatory to the Achilles Shield agreement. Israel and Greece describe it as a bilateral project under which Israeli companies will build a multi-layered air defense network for Greece. Neither government's announcement places Cyprus inside the contracted system.
The August 31 Achilles Shield agreement combines David's Sling and SPYDER systems made by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, the BARAK MX system produced by Israel Aerospace Industries and multi-mission radars with a national command-and-control network.
Türkiye did not appear in the official descriptions of the deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nevertheless connected the agreement to the three-country relationship on the day it was signed, calling it a "direct continuation" of the Eastern Mediterranean alliance Israel had forged with Greece and Cyprus a decade earlier.
Military cooperation among the three predates Achilles Shield. A December 2025 round of previously undisclosed air force talks in Nicosia brought together senior commanders to discuss exercises, readiness, operational planning and deeper cooperation.
Days later, discussions over a coordinated defense mechanism involving Israel, Greece and the Republic of Cyprus entered the public record. No formal three-country military force was announced.
The Republic of Cyprus already operates Israel's BARAK MX, one of the systems included in the architecture now being supplied to Greece. Palmas's reference to military "synergies" therefore has an existing equipment link behind it as well as years of political and military cooperation.
Palmas's wording is close to an argument Ankara has been making for months.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said in August that the Greece-Israel-Greek Cypriot security partnership was directed at Türkiye. Greece and the Republic of Cyprus have repeatedly rejected claims that their defense partnerships are directed against third countries.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis made that case again on September 3, saying Greece "poses no threat to anyone" while insisting Athens would accept no instructions from another country on how to strengthen its defenses.
Palmas did not announce a new alliance or say the Republic of Cyprus had joined the Greek procurement. He did, however, put an explicit threat definition behind the cooperation: Türkiye.
On August 31, the Achilles Shield contract named the weapons but not the adversary. Four days later, Palmas named one.
Sources: Republic of Cyprus Ministry of Defence, Cyprus News Agency, Israel Ministry of Defense, Hellenic Ministry of National Defence, Office of the Israeli Prime Minister, Office of the Greek Prime Minister, Cyprus Mail, Bosphorus News review and reporting.