Cyprus-Forum.com

[Sotos]

I dont know what other tanks we have but anyway they are a waste of our money!

Why? All armies have tanks. How could we have an army if we didn't have tanks?

[michalis5354]

What is the purpose of having the army ? Tanks and other weapons are useless and a waste of resources.Unfortunately we do not have politicians brave enough to put an end to this waste of public funds.Just they dont care- it is not their money .

what is the difference of having 2 or 2000 tanks if you do not have an airforce. It is useless -waste of resources. 2 or 2000 tanks does not make any difference.

[Sotos]

I think 2000 tanks would make a diffrence in case of war I doubt we have anything close to that though!

[Sotos]

We apparently bought some new Russian helicopters:

NICOSIA, Cyprus -- The Greek Cypriot military exercise Nikiforos went into full swing Friday, with Russian-made attack helicopters making their first official appearance in large-scale maneuvers. The annual exercise, which started on Oct. 18, had been canceled each year since 2001 to avoid increasing tension between Cyprus and Turkey.

The Mil-Mi35 helicopter gunships fired missiles shortly before the Russian-made T-80 main battle tanks rumbled into action at the Kalo Chorio firing range near Larnaca.

Cyprus' National Guard also used Gazelle helicopters equipped with anti-tank missiles, AMX-30B2 tanks, BMP-3 armored infantry fighting vehicles, and self-propelled artillery.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded the island following a failed coup staged by supporters of union with Greece.

Around 25,000 reservists were taking part in the exercise, which ended Sunday.

[BirKibrisli]

What is the purpose of having the army ? Tanks and other weapons are useless and a waste of resources.Unfortunately we do not have politicians brave enough to put an end to this waste of public funds.Just they dont care- it is not their money .

what is the difference of having 2 or 2000 tanks if you do not have an airforce. It is useless -waste of resources. 2 or 2000 tanks does not make any difference.

Michalis,you are a man after my own heart.What indeed is the use of any army,apart from causing pain and suffering in a world already full of pain and suffering?Imagine if no country in the world had an army.Imagine if someone called for war and nobody came!

[Sotos]

Birkibrisli, some armies exist for defensive purposes. Our army is one of those. Even if we wanted we wouldn't be able to attack anybody The defensive armies exist to prevent pain and suffering.

[BirKibrisli]

Birkibrisli, some armies exist for defensive purposes. Our army is one of those. Even if we wanted we wouldn't be able to attack anybody The defensive armies exist to prevent pain and suffering.

But Sotos gardash,I know we couldn't attack anyone but could we defend ourselves if attacked by anyone (except perhaps the Palestinean Authority or Soloman Islands)???Think about this:If RoC tomorrow abolished its army and called for all foreign troops to leave the island,wouldn't we have a stronger case at the UN?

[Piratis]

Birkibrisli,

It is true that we wouldn't be able to defend ourselves for long if we were attacked by a big country. However, don't forget that Cyprus is an island full with mountains and difficult terrain. Almost every Greek Cypriot male between 20 and 55 has an automatic weapon and ammunition in his home. It would not be that easy to defeat Cyprus. Our army can buy us some time until hopefully some help can arrive.

Think about this:If RoC tomorrow abolished its army and called for all foreign troops to leave the island,wouldn't we have a stronger case at the UN?

How? I don't think that maintaining an army, just like almost every other country in the world, makes our case any weaker.

[BirKibrisli]

Birkibrisli,

It is true that we wouldn't be able to defend ourselves for long if we were attacked by a big country. However, don't forget that Cyprus is an island full with mountains and difficult terrain. Almost every Greek Cypriot male between 20 and 55 has an automatic weapon and ammunition in his home. It would not be that easy to defeat Cyprus. Our army can buy us some time until hopefully some help can arrive.

Think about this:If RoC tomorrow abolished its army and called for all foreign troops to leave the island,wouldn't we have a stronger case at the UN?

How? I don't think that maintaining an army, just like almost every other country in the world, makes our case any weaker.

I am just trying to think outside the square,Piratis.I hope you are wrong about every GC male between 20 and 55 having an automatic weapon,because that would make the TC's cry for protection from Turkey more legitimate. Don't you think it would be better if all Cypriots just had a shotgun for bird hunting instead of automatic weapons?

[Piratis]

Birkibrisli, what we have here is a country with population over 65 million with one of the top 10 armies in the world occupying part of our country. The army of Turkey is larger than our whole population. If we are to hold this army for some days it is required that all of us can become soldiers in case of war.

This is not what we want, this is what we are forced to do.

Say we didn't have an army, or we had a very week one and Turkey one day decided to invade us again. Then what? What would stop them? International law? Human rights? We already know they don't care about these things.