Greece and Israel boost defense cooperation, urge neighbor countries to join "axis of good"

Greece's Defense Minister Panos Kammenos and his visiting Israeli counterpart Moshe Ya' alon signed on Tuesday a joint declaration in Athens to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the defense sector, urging neighbor countries to join an "axis of good" against terrorism.

Under the deal, the two sides will boost collaboration by exchanging counter-terrorism intelligence and through joint exercises, according to a press release issued by the Greek Defense Ministry.

In statements made to the press after their meeting both officials called on Turkey in particular to assist multinational efforts to counter Islamic fundamentalism.

"Our goal is to create an axis of security from Israel to Cyprus, Greece and why not further to the North to Bulgaria and to the South to Egypt and Jordan," Kammenos said, according to the press release.

In addition, the Greek official called on Turkey to change its behavior, comply with international law, recognize Cyprus, change its stance on terrorism and make use of EU funding to curb the flow of refugees, so the Mediterranean could become a sea of "peace and stability", Greek national news agency AMNA reported.

On his part, Ya'alon warned of the risks of terror attacks in Europe by a "complex network of terrorists with legal weapons of mass destruction."

The Athens meeting came ahead of the convention of the Greece- Israel High-Level Cooperation Council in Jerusalem on Wednesday. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will head a team of ten ministers to discuss bilateral cooperation in several fields.

On Thursday Tsipras and the Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Cyprus for the new trilateral summit with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades. Endit