Opening Address On behalf of the Minister of Defence , Republic of Cyprus , Charalambos Petrides
Andreas Louka Permanent Secretary
Due to other important obligations of the Minister , I will read on his behalf , the Opening Address to this Conference .
Dear Deputy Minister of Research , Innovation and Digital Policy , Representatives of the Cyprus Parliament , Chief of Staff of National Guard , Ambassadors , Defence Attaché , Distinguished Guests ,
Allow me first to congratulate the organizers for making this year ’ s event possible . I am truly honored to participate at such a high-level , distinguished and enriching gathering which addresses key pertinent global and regional issues .
It is undeniable that our region is an area of political instability , military conflicts and hegemonic aspirations .
The instability in Syria and Libya , the political and economic situation in Lebanon aggravated by the deadly Beirut port explosion , the flows of irregular migrants and the threat of terrorism remain major security challenges . Furthermore , the discovery of vast quantities of natural gas and oil in the Eastern Mediterranean , has added to the geopolitical and geo-economic importance of the region , but has also increased the rhetoric of conflict , by Turkey .
Turkey who acts as the sole regional spoiler , renews and intensifies geopolitical friction and rhetoric of aggression . Particularly , last years , our country had to endure hybrid warfare actions from numerous illegal surveys well within our EEZ , actions aimed to disrupt our energy exploration programme and continuous violations of our national airspace just to name a few .
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