Cyprus is the weakest militarily country in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, falling behind in both military numbers and equipment, according to a recently published study.
According to the Cyprus Center for Strategic Studies, the relative balance of military power in the region actually makes the Republic of Cyprus defenseless.
The study relied on data from public sources such as the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Royal United Services Institute for Defense Studies, the International Monetary Fund, the CIA Factbook, Global Firepower and Eurostat.
Although Cyprus has one of the highest GDP per capita in the region, second only to Israel, the country spends the least on defense. Cyprus' annual military budget is $535 million, compared with Lebanon's $540 million and Jordan's $1.3 billion.
Moreover, its arsenal is relatively small and largely outdated. In terms of personnel numbers, the Cypriot military is at the bottom of the list, with only 10,000 personnel. This is followed by Lebanon with 60,000, Greece with 141,800, Egypt with 348,500 and Turkey with 355,200. Iran has the largest army with a total of 441,000 personnel.
In terms of economic size, Turkey boasts the highest GDP at US$1.15 trillion, followed by Saudi Arabia with US$1.11 trillion, Israel with US$540 million and Iran with US$386 billion.
When it comes to military spending, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Israel occupy the top three places in the ranking. For 2024, Turkey's defense budget is $16.5 billion. Greece and Iran will spend $7 billion each, and Egypt - about $5 billion.
Meanwhile, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have the largest air forces, with 589 and 441 fighter jets respectively. Next comes Israel with 340, Türkiye - 294, Iran - 265 and Greece - 229.
The largest naval forces in the region, in terms of personnel, belong to Turkey. It can field 45,000 sailors, compared with Egypt's 18,500, Iran's 18,000, Greece's 14,300, Saudi Arabia's 13,500 and Israel's 9,500.
The worst situation is in Cyprus, whose fleet consists of six patrol boats.
Source: cyprus-mail.com
