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Greece has decided to keep four F-16 fighter jets and the frigate Nikiforos Fokas in Cyprus until further notice, in what Greek media outlet Ta Nea described as a direct response to escalating threats from Iran and growing tensions with Türkiye.
The four Greek F-16s are stationed at Andreas Papandreou Air Base in Paphos, while the Nikiforos Fokas has replaced the frigate Elli as Greece's naval presence in the area, according to Ta Nea's report.
According to Greek media reports, the decision to keep Greek air and naval assets on the island indefinitely represents what the outlet called "a significant adjustment to Greece's defensive posture, driven by Iranian threats across the wider Middle East."
The Nikiforos Fokas carries Greece's Kentavros anti-drone system.
The frigate recently took part in the multinational "Cyprus Arrow" exercise south of Limassol.
Greece's extended Cyprus deployment follows a broader pattern of military buildup on the divided island tracing back to March, when Türkiye deployed six F-16 fighter jets and HISAR-series air defense systems to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
Türkiye's National Defense Ministry said at the time that phased plans were being implemented to ensure TRNC security amid missile and drone threats stemming from the Iran-Israel-U.S. conflict, stating that "the security of the TRNC and the preservation of peace and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean are of strategic importance to Türkiye, and our position on this is clear and unchanging."
The ministry noted that Türkiye, as a guarantor state under the 1960 Cyprus agreements, was responding to what it called military elements being sent to the island by non-guarantor countries.
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The deployment came after a British Royal Air Force (RAF) base at Akrotiri in Greek Cyprus was struck by a drone believed to be Iranian-made, and after Greece deployed two frigates and two F-16s to the island.
Turkish deployment marked the country's first air force buildup of similar scale on the island since 1998, during the S-300 missile crisis.
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