JERUSALEM AP Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai said Tuesday that Greece turned down his invitation to carry out a joint operation in the Mediterranean after Israel and Turkey held similar exercises in the area. ``We invited them to a humanitarian exercise at sea more than a year ago and they refused'' Mordechai said according to his spokesman Avi Benayahu. ``They were invited once again to hold such an exercise'' during the visit on Tuesday of the Greek air force commander Lt. Gen. Giorgos Antonetzis to Israel Benayahu said. Benayahu did not say how the Greek visitor responded. Turkey is Greece's traditional rival and Greece has been watching the growing Israeli-Turkish military alliance with some concern. Turkey and Greece remain at odds over Cyprus. They have controlled opposite sides of the island since 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied the northern third of the island after a failed coup by supporters of union with Greece. Mordechai said he supported a diplomatic solution to the Cyprus conflict. The Greek air force commander was to stay in Israel until Thursday night as a guest of the Israeli air force. He was to meet military officials and tour defense industry facilities the Israeli army spokesman's office said. The Greek air force already has several defense contracts with Israel including the maintenance of F-16 fighter planes. Mordechai will visit Greece at the end of December as a guest of the Greek Jewish community. He will hold military and policy meetings in Athens and in the northern port city of Salonica. UR; sb-kl APW19981201.0760.txt.body.html APW19981201.1436.txt.body.html