The Underwater Demolition Team (), abbreviated as MYK () is the

Cyprus Navy The Cyprus Naval Command (, ) (also known as the Cyprus Navy or Cypriot Navy) is the armed sea wing of the Cyprus National Guard. The Cypriot Navy has the primary mission of defending the maritime borders of the Republic of Cyprus, but is curre ...

special warfare Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

unit.

History

The Underwater Demolition Team was created in 1964, alongside the newly formed National Guard, with trainers from

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

carrying out the first underwater demolition school, only 18 graduates out of the 142 passing. During the early hours of the

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...

, OYK, at its then base in Bogazi, was placed on alert but took no further action during the invasion.

Training

MYKs training is similar to that of its Greek and American counterparts, with a school (BUD/S) lasting 6–8 months and candidates undergoing the necessary training before completion, including diving (Open and closed circuit), demolitions and undergoing hell week.

Equipment

MYK uses an array of weapons for the execution of different types of operations they may receive. *

FN SCAR The FN SCAR (SOF (Special Operations Forces) Combat Assault Rifle) is a family of gas-operated short-stroke gas piston automatic rifles developed by Belgian manufacturer FN Herstal (FN) in 2004. It is constructed with modularity for the United ...

IWI Tavor The IWI Tavor, previously designated as the Tavor TAR-21 (Tavor Assault Rifle – 21st century), is an Israeli bullpup assault rifle chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO, designed and produced by Israel Weapon Industries (IWI). It is part of the Tavor ...

AK-74 The AK-74 ( Russian: , tr. ''Avtomat Kalashnikova obraztsa 1974 goda'', lit. 'Kalashnikov assault rifle model 1974') is an assault rifle designed by small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1974 as a successor to the AKM. While primarily ...

* M-16 *

FN Minimi The FN Minimi (short for ; "mini machine gun") is a Belgian 5.56mm or 7.62mm light machine gun, also classified as a squad automatic weapon developed by Ernest Vervier for FN Herstal. Introduced in the late 1970s, it is in service in more than ...

Notable people

Many MYK operators have gained either positions within the government or have been involved in high-profile events, most important being

Andreas Ioannides Andreas Ioannides may refer to: * Andreas Ioannides (footballer), Cypriot footballer * Andreas Ioannides (naval officer) Andreas Ioannides (; 1958 – 11 July 2011) was the head of the Cyprus Navy until his death in the Evangelos Florakis Navy B ...

, who was a SEAL however serving as the commander of the Navy at the time of the Evangelos Florakis Naval Base explosion and subsequently losing his life. Other notable people who have served in the unit are: * Costas Fitiris (Former Commander of the Cyprus Joint Rescue Coordination Center and Chief Marina Officer of the

Ayia Napa Ayia Napa ( , ), officially Romanization, romanised Agia Napa, is a Tourism in Cyprus, tourist resort at the far eastern end of the southern coast of Cyprus. Etymology The name Ayia Napa is derived from a Venetian Cyprus, Venetian-era monaster ...

Marina) *

Fidias Panayiotou Fidias Panayiotou (; born 10 April 2000), known mononymously as Fidias, is a Cypriot politician and YouTuber who was elected as an independent MEP in the 2024 European Parliament election. Personal life Fidias was born in Meniko, in the N ...

(Currently serving as a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

)

Gallery

File:Cypriot MYK operator with an FN SCAR.webp, Cypriot MYK operator with his FN SCAR in a live fire exercise with US Navy SEALs File:OYK from Greece and Cyprus on an exercise with the US.png, OYK operators from Cyprus and Greece during a VBSS exercise with the USA File:Greek and Cypriot Greek SEALs secure parts of a ship.webp, Cypriot Greek and Greek SEALs secure parts of a ship during a VBSS exercise File:Cyprus, Greece and the U.S. execute Naval SOF exercise 210317-A-YQ762-0037.jpg, Naval Special Warfare Task Unit Europe (NSWTU-E), the Greek Underwater Demolition Team (DYK) and Cypriot Underwater Demolition Team (UDT), execute an Over the Beach (OTB) insertion exercise

References

External links

{{Cypriot Military Military of Cyprus 1964 establishments in Cyprus Armed forces diving