Greek defense minister not sure if new era began with Ankara

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) - Greek Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos said Wednesday that he is not sure if a new era began with Ankara after twin earthquakes hit 11 southern Turkish provinces earlier this month.

“Our ongoing aid efforts to Türkiye should be seen as a humanitarian duty. We don’t have any other agenda in that,” Panagiotopoulos told public broadcaster ERT.

Greece was among the first countries to offer condolences and aid to Türkiye when the quakes struck. The death toll from the powerful Feb. 6 tremors rose to 43,556, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said Wednesday.

Switching to Greece’s ambitious re-armament program, Panagiotopoulos argued that Athens anticipates receiving the first US-made fifth-generation F-35 warplane by 2028.

On the acquisition of corvette-type warships for the Greek Navy, Panagiotopoulos noted that France and Italy made good offers, which would enable a significant amount of workload for Greek companies.

He reiterated that his country does not intend to transfer its S-300 long-range Russian-made air defense systems to Ukraine as they are needed in Greece.

Athens recently signed multiple big-ticket arms agreements, including a deal for drones from Israel, Rafale jets from France and upgrades to its F-16 fleet from the US.

Greece also approached Washington for the potential purchase of at least 20 F-35 stealth aircraft.

Türkiye has repeatedly warned Greece against indulging in a wasteful arms race, offering instead to resolve outstanding issues regarding the Aegean Sea, Eastern Mediterranean and Cyprus, through good-faith dialogue amid heightened tensions between the two countries​​​​​​​.