Cyprus and France complete joint exercise

The defence ministry announced on Friday the successful execution of a joint search and rescue exercise with France.

According to a ministry statement, the exercise was carried out with the French navy in a sea area south of Cyprus, inside the island’s flight information region.

It was the fourth exercise inside 2017, between Cypriot and French forces operating in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The area of the exercise coincided with the sea area where a Turkish vessel is carrying out seismic surveys without the permission of the republic.

Turkey had also announced it was carrying out naval exercises in the area and advised maritime traffic to be cautious.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.