Cyprus plans to reduce military service to 19 months

The Ministry of Defence of Cyprus is studying various options with a view to reduce the length of military service, which is compulsory for all male Greek Cypriots, citizens of the Republic of Cyprus, with some exceptions.
“The project for the restructuring of the National Guard and the modernisation of the Republic’s armed forces, including a reduction of the military service from 25 to 19 months, is now being studied by the Ministry,” Cypriot Minister of Defence Costas Papacostas has said.
Papacostas told CNA today that the final evaluation of the project, submitted to him at the end of June, will be ready by the end of November and then it will be submitted to the Council of Ministers for discussion and final approval.
«We are evaluating around 10-12 scenarios with different parameters and prerequisites. The Ministry will agree on two or three proposals which it will put before the Council of Ministers for discussion and approval,” Papacostas noted.
Papacostas pointed out that the Ministry of Defence, in collaboration with a private company, is conducting an opinion poll to see what the prevailing trend is among young people and their parents, and to reach a decision based on the most feasible scenario.
Analyzing one of the possible scenarios, Papacostas said that conscripts, once released from the military, can return to serve with the National Guard on a voluntary and semi-professional basis.
Papacostas said that if the military service is reduced to 19 months, the status of the “Soldier of Short-term Service” could be introduced. He also explained that in a 19 month basis military service, soldiers will be out of the National Guard by February. Taking this into account, Papacostas continued, young soldiers could be employed in the National Guard for six months, on contract, as volunteers, until September when most of them go to university.
Finally, Papacostas stressed that the military service can only be reduced gradually, in three or four stages.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern third. Compulsory military service was introduced in the early 1960s for all male citizens who belong to the Greek Cypriot community. Members of the Turkish Cypriot community are not liable to military service with the National Guard.