YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 12, ARMENPRESS. The defense cooperation between Armenia and Cyprus has expanded by covering 15 sectors instead of 13, Armenian defense minister Davit Tonoyan said during a joint press conference with defense minister of Cyprus Savvas Angelides in Yerevan, reports Armenpress.

He stated that the Armenian-Cypriot bilateral historic cooperation is based on friendship, mutual willingness and common approaches of the two peoples.

“We have discussed with the defense minister of Cyprus the current situation in the defense sector and the opportunity to expand it. I would like to inform that our 13 cooperation areas became 15. I have introduced the details of Armenia’s humanitarian mission in Syria, and we believe that the exchange of information in the Middle East is very important by both sides”, Tonoyan said.

He added that they have also discussed issues relating to the organization of mandatory military service. “As you know, Cyprus is among the few EU member states that keeps the mandatory military service and has great opportunities to exchange experience with us as they share all the difficulties connected with the mandatory military service. And we have agreed to exchange information as a priority”, Davit Tonoyan noted. “During our meeting we once again highlighted the high-level political relations between the two friendly countries and reaffirmed our common approaches over international and regional security issues”, he added.

In his turn defense minister of Cyprus Savvas Angelides thanked the Armenian counterpart for the invitation and added that he visited Armenia with a great pleasure.

“My today’s visit proves that the two countries have potential for the development of future programs and defense cooperation. Our two countries share the same interests on regional matters. We are committed to the maintenance of regional peace and international laws. These are historical values which always accompany the people. The defense cooperation program, that we signed today, pushes us one step forward at the cooperation level and aims at developing our partnership in different matters of regional security”, he said.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan