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Report: Israel to deploy 20,000 commandos in Greek Cyprus
Aviel Magnezi
Published: 20.05.12, 18:47
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39 Talkbacks for this article
1. Bring it on
sipahi ,   Istanbul   (05.20.12)
Club bouncer, bring it on.
2. If true, it's a wonderful idea
Sarah B ,   U.S.A. / Israel   (05.20.12)
Erdogan has been trying to figure out a way to horn in on (and, of course, cash in on) Israel's spectacular natural gas finds, and the natural target would have been Cyprus, with whom Israel has entered into a sharing contract and additional deals concerning exploration and containing facilities. A substantial Israeli civilian presence, bolstered by a significant Israeli troop presence, will turn Erdogan into a chattering chipmunk, cowering in a corner and gnashing his large -- and largely ineffective -- teeth. Cyprus will never be fair game for Turkey again. Turkey will twice before challenging Israel. This action will send the appropriate message. The Turks can sit and stew, and wish that they had partnered with Israel back when the option was available -- and rejected. Oops! Oh well.
3. Does Israel even have that many commandos?
Vlad   (05.20.12)
4. Basic fact checking seems to be completely missing
The Dude   (05.20.12)
The IDF in terms of active personnel is ~170,000 and reserve forces ~450.000. This is not even plausible! Devoting more than 10% of your total active forces to Cyprus? Would this involve sending off a reserve division on rotation? This is propaganda on the part of Erdogan to ruse up some excuse to attack the rest of Cyprus and possibly Israel. Put simply basic logic would state it would be better to protect our oil interests by simply expanding the patrol routes of the IAF and simply increasing the size and capacity of the INF from a more coast guard/brown water navy to a blue water navy. The fact is that in the end what will Turkey do? Will it invade the rest of Cyprus to steal its gas? Are they willing to risk being thrown out of NATO? And though I admit that Turkey would be able to fight off an exclusively EU military force, would they be able to withstand the economic consequences of a fully economic withdrawal by the EU? And are they crazy enough to try to invade Israel? I guess they can go through Syr... whoops that option is currently gone because Erdogan's former BFF is prepping for any possible Turkish incursion for a 'security zone'. I guess they could send their Navy and do beach landings at Haifa... All they have to do is successfully knockout the IAF? An air force that has never lost an air-to-air battle in it's history, has some of the worlds most advance aircraft, specialize in dog fighting, have been explicitly practicing long range operations and so on. I beg people to think logically and not be driven by emotions.
5. Paranoid Erdogan!
David ,   Karmiel, Israel   (05.20.12)
Remember the words of Fox Mulder: "Just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you!" The Greeks will never forget that as far as the Turks are concerned, Turkish Delight is a dead Greek!
6. #3. Non of your buisness!
Joseph ,   Malta   (05.20.12)
7. #1 they are coming, so you can go under the bed
Jorge ,   Israel/USA/Argentina   (05.20.12)
8. 3 - they taking people like sarah b now and call them
Comedy hour   (05.20.12)
commandos, it'll take the Cypriots couple weeks to think it over...lol
9. #6 What?
Vlad   (05.20.12)
What do you mean? I'm just stating that while Israel no doubt has thousands of commandos in its 40 special units, 20,000 is a bit of an overstretch. And even if it did, that would mean Israel is deploying most or almost all of it's special forces in Cyprus. I would envision a regular deployment instead.
10. #3 - Israel has around 725,000 IDF available
michael redbourn ,   Arad Israel   (05.20.12)
The Israeli government tries to hide the size of its army. However, Global Security estimates that it has 125,000 active duty ground forces and 600,000 in reserve. Of active duty soldiers, about two-thirds are conscripted into service.
11. Squabbling, Turks, Greeks, & Israelis.......what a triangle!
Cameron ,   USA   (05.20.12)
Has trouble written all over it.
12. Erdogan versus Netanyahu
martin ,   Netherlands   (05.20.12)
Turks on Palestinian soil, Israeli on soil of South Cyprus, Israeli and Kurds, Turks and Hezbollah, etc....so childish. Still waiting for the day these PM's leave....
13. @3 I asked myself that very question!
Eran ,   Israel   (05.20.12)
Then I decided what does it matter as long as our enemies think we are that mighty mighty then we are that mighty! nod wink! know what I mean!
14. #4 and #10 where in r u getting ur numbers?
(05.20.12)
boys settle down now that's all meant to be classified you know.
15. To: No. 11
Sarah B ,   U.S.A. / Israel   (05.20.12)
Oh, Greek Cypriots and Israelis are in lock step on this one. The Turks are desperate to get their filthy little trotters on the natural gas which belongs to Israel and which is being shared with the Cypriots. If the Turks want to start trouble, it will be waiting for them. But not even Erdogan, in his death throes, could possibly be that stupid. Perhaps his deathbed medication has addled his brain. He thinks NATO will support him. It won't. It will, however, be the tipping point which will see Turkey expelled from NATO, and all those lucrative NATO bases in Turkey closed. Any challenge to Cyprus will see the Turks evicted from the northern part of the island, which they have illegally occupied since 1974. The Turks seem unable to stop their downward spiral. Perhaps they can look to their good friends the Iranians for help (LOL!!).
16. Israeli Commandos on CY
Bill Cobbett ,   London, England   (05.20.12)
Friends, we're in danger of giving credence to attempts by Turkey to give an impression of rising tension in the area. This story really does need to be taken with an awful lot of salt.
17. Too many!
Z.Z. Coltrane ,   USA   (05.20.12)
Israel doesn't need that many Commandos' to beat the gutless Turk(eys)s. That includes all the wimpy Muslim countries (girlie men)! God bless, Israel!
18. I'm very happy!
Obsessive ,   Turkey   (05.20.12)
Happy to see Israel on the island. They are excluding Western/Eastern Powers on the island which is good for Turkey and also they are gaining ground. Strong Israel no problem for Turkey actually. Armenia under control of Russians, Kurds under Arabs. Greece, Bulgaria under control of Germany. Very Nice! Let Greek Cypriot steal all the natural resources. I hope Turkey will annex the North and I hope Israel uses Greek Cypriot money for financing their own military expenses.
19. Fails sense test
Neal ,   Minneapolis, USA   (05.20.12)
The Turkish "news" report fails several tests of common sense. Never mind the size of Israel's armed forces -- they're very unlikely to be large enough to support a permanent detachment of 20,000 troops (20,000 "commandos" is somewhat unbelievable, too -- you don't need highly trained commandos, people trained in surprise attack, for a static defense). Second, it's not logical that Cyprus -- or any nation -- would welcome a 20,000-soldier force on its territory to defend something other than its national security; it's an affront to sovereignty. (This isn't western Europe or South Korea using the United States to fend of a feared Communist invasion.) Third, just why would a joint Israeli-Cypriot gas industry need that kind of defense? True, Turkey seems to covet the island (which on a map looks more sensibly Turkish than Greek), Turkey no doubt would like to cash in on the gas -- but maybe it can from its corner of the island. Last -- although this runs contrary to the idea of Turkey being afraid to invade -- what makes people think Turkey wold be kicked out of NATO if it did seize all of Cyprus? Sure, NATO members would scream and shout, but Turkey's location is very advantageous to NATO, which may benefit more from the alliance than Turkey.
20. Great news!
Angelo ,   Chicago, USA   (05.21.12)
This is a very good idea! Long live Israel!
21. Dunno, Sarah
Cameron ,   USA   (05.21.12)
Beware the danger of entangling alliances, especially with the Greek lot. Yeah, the Turks would dearly like to get their claws on the oil and gas deposits, but there is danger in hopping into the middle of that eternal Greek vs.Turk bad blood. Don't have any faith in the Geeks. History sez keep yer options real open and a very sharp eye on all matters with that Byzantine crew.
22. Well, tough luck for Turkey & rest then...
Marios ,   Nicosia, Cyprus   (05.21.12)
Well, tough luck for everybody then... For too long the country suffered from all kinds of threats Turkey was posing... Am not a leftist, am not a right wing supporter...I dont support anyone... I support my country...and if we need to cooperate with Israel in this issue and have 20,000 commandos here with their families, then so be it... Tough luck to Turkey, to the UK, to everyone for that matter... We've been murdered, raped, kicked around for too long in our history... I say, why not?
23. If true, this is in breach of the Treaty of Guarantee
Ibrahim ,   Turkey   (05.21.12)
For Cyprus to house foreign soldiers on its soil it will first need to obtain the permission of Greece, the United Kingdom and the Turkish Republic pursuant to the terms of the Treaty of Guarantee. This "news" is accordingly misinformation.
24. There is no Greek and Turkish Cyprus
Andreas ,   Cyprus   (05.21.12)
There is neither Greek part nor Turkish part of Cyprus. Neither northern nor southern. There is an internationally-recognized republic, the Republic of Cyprus and the occupied by the turkish troops part of Cyprus (a protectorate of Turkey and so recognized only by Turkey). If you write about Greek and Turkish Cyprus you promote the turkish propaganda for a divided island
25. To Ibrahim
Marios ,   Nicosia, Cyprus   (05.21.12)
You have the nerve to talk about breaches of the Treaty of Guarantee.... Who gave Turkey the right to claim 37% of the island in 1974? Who gave the right to Turkey to violate every known treaty of the United Nations? Who gave Turkey the right to rape, kill and make so many thousands of people as refugees in their own country? You have the nerve of challenging our right to exploit our economic zone? The bare facts are that this time, thank God, the right procedure has been followed, the second round of licences for exploitation of our economic zone has already gone ahead, and you can only shout and whine about it.... What goes around, comes around...In '74, you looked like heroes to your nation. Now, its time to look like idiots and whiners...
26. To: Cameron at No. 21
Sarah B ,   U.S.A. / Israel   (05.21.12)
Well, then, that would be a perfect reason to increase the Israeli presence in Cyprus, wouldn't it? Think of it as a modern-day Trojan horse. Whatever works. But Turkey will not get their dirty little trotters on our natural gas. That's a certainty. Ever read Yeats' "Sailing to Byzantium?"
27. Marios read the 1960 Cypriot Constitution
Ibrahim ,   Turkey   (05.21.12)
Makarios III gave Turkey the pretence to intervene and prevent the ethnic cleansing of the Turkish Cypriot community. You wanted to unify Cyprus with Greece, under the Enosis plan. This was in breach of the Treaty of Guarantee. Turkey did not and does not claim 37% of the Island. The Turkish Cypriot peoples declared their universal declaration of independence in 1984 after inter communal talks failed to safeguard the rights of the Turkish Cypriot peoples. Prior to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus being declared by the Turkish Cypriot peoples, there was the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus. The Turkish Cypriots only wanted constitutional guarantees. The Turkish Cypriots even voted in favour of the Anan plan. The Greek Cypriot did not and do not want peace. They want to Hellenise the island. Turkish Military force will ensure that this will never happen & the rights of the Turkish Cypriot peoples will be safeguarded. P.S. Don't let me list the Greek atrocities committed against the Turkish Cypriots here in 1974.
28. # 18 Obsessive Turkey
Mary ,   Greek Cyprus   (05.21.12)
If you ask me what I would prefer, then loose my money instead to see the face of Erdo and his servants
29. # 23
Mary ,   Greek Cyprus   (05.21.12)
Ibrahim better give attention to the Turkish Cypriots who made an uprise today for being unpaid for two and a half months and ready to make a revolution against the Erdo regime for imposing on them strict religion rules and let UN decide to whom they will give permission to come to the free part of Cyprus. 38 years now u are shouting to everybody that North Cyprus is yours. How come now u want share from the south part? Or your decisions differ according to the moon's fullness?
30. #28
Obsessive ,   Turkey   (05.21.12)
Yes. Legal cringing policies for the Orth Church,EU and minority assets making me sick too (once for Cyprus too if you have enough knowledge. Dont forget your Tasos the crying idiot on TV) A typically proven tippler Pontian Greek, Georgian mix (tavern table overturner macho jerk) together with another Greek-Arab mix sharing the same skull and forehead. Incredibly easy to manage for Israelis. Dont worry!
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