Cyprus ranks lowest militarily in Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey and Iran far superior, study reveals

Cyprus is the weakest country militarily in the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East region, lagging behind both in manpower and equipment, a just-released study has found.

According to the Cyprus Centre for Strategic Studies, a think tank, the comparative balance of military power in the region effectively renders the Republic of Cyprus defenceless.

The study drew on open-source intelligence – such as the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Royal United Services Institute, the International Monetary Fund, the CIA Factbook, Global Firepower and Eurostat.

Although Cyprus has one of the highest per capita GDPs in the region – second only to Israel – the country spends the least on defence. Cyprus’ annual military budget comes to $535 million – compared to $540 million for Lebanon and $1.3 billion for Jordan.

Moreover, its arsenal is comparatively small and largely outdated. In terms of manpower, the Cypriot military sits at the bottom of the heap with just 10,000 personnel. Next comes Lebanon with 60,000, Greece with 141,800, Egypt with 348,500, and Turkey with 355,200. Iran has the largest military with 441,000 personnel in total.

In terms of the size of the economy, Turkey boasts the highest GDP at $1.15 trillion, followed by Saudi Arabia at $1.11 trillion, Israel at $540 million and Iran at $386 billion.

When it comes to military spending, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Israel occupy the top three spots, in that order. For the year 2024 Turkey’s defence budget tallies at $16.5 billion. Greece and Iran will each spend $7 billion, and Egypt around $5 billion.

Meanwhile Egypt and Saudi Arabia possess the largest air forces – with 589 and 441 fighter jets, respectively. Next is Israel with 340, Turkey 294, Iran 265 and Greece 229.

By far the biggest naval forces – in terms of manpower – in the region belong to Turkey. It can muster 45,000 sailors, compared to Egypt’s 18,500, Iran’s 18,000, Greece’s 14,300, Saudi Arabia’s 13,500, and Israel’s 9,500.

Cyprus fares the worst, with its navy consisting of six patrol boats.