Greek, Greek Cypriot and Egyptian defence ministers agree in Cairo on joint protection of East Med energy infrastructure and rapid joint response

According to Cyprus Mail, Greek Cypriot Defence Minister Vasilis Palmas, Greek Defence Minister Nikos Dendias and Egyptian Defence Minister Lieutenant General Ashraf Salem Zaher signed a joint statement at the 6th trilateral meeting held in Cairo on 22 September. The statement covered strengthening the joint protection of gas fields, supply lines and offshore energy infrastructure in the Eastern Mediterranean against various threats and deepening military cooperation in light of recent developments in the region. ProtoThema wrote that the parties agreed to intensify communication, consultation, information sharing and the coordination of joint capabilities in order to enhance their capacity to respond rapidly and in a unified manner to future threats. The next meeting will be held in Greece in 2027.

The statement does not name Türkiye, but it contains an explicit reference to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Türkiye is not a party to the convention, and the dispute over maritime jurisdiction in the Eastern Mediterranean is the main issue between Ankara and Athens–Nicosia. On the same day, 22 September, President Erdoğan called on the international community at the UN General Assembly to recognise the TRNC and repeated his proposal for a regional conference on the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean. The Turkish Navy's Denizkurdu-I/2026 exercise, involving 100 ships, 50 aircraft and 14,000 personnel, was also under way that week. The statement also welcomed the recently completed joint Medusa exercise; the date of the exercise and the number of participating units were not given in these sources.