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Saturday, 06 February 2021 (YJC)_ Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has raised concerns over Germany’s plans to sell attack submarines to Turkey.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has raised concerns over Germany’s plans to sell attack submarines to Turkey, the National Herald said.
Turkey is seeking to complete a series of defence deals with Germany, including for a fleet of submarines and parts for its national tank.
The move that will lead Athens to lose its main military advantage in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean against Ankara as Turkey acquiring almost undetectable German-made type-214 submarines.
Speaking at the online Europe 2021 conference, Mitsotakis recalled the U.S. sanctions on Turkey’s defence industry, following Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400s.
The United States suspended Turkey’s purchase of F-35 fighter jets in 2019 in response to its acquisition of Russian S-400 air defence missiles. Washington in December also introduced some punitive measures targeting Turkish Defence Industries Directorate (SSB) and its head İsmail Demir, under the Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
According to the news site, Greek Defence Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos asked German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to suspend the submarine sale, but his German counterpart rejected the request.
“The program to build and sell in Turkey the six type-214 submarines cannot be stopped – or even delayed – because the construction company Thyssen is bound by contracts signed since 2002,” the National Herald cited Kramp-Karrenbauer as saying.
Greece, Cyprus and France are calling on Germany to cease arms exports to Turkey until it backs down in the dispute with Greece and halts exploration for hydrocarbons off Cyprus. Germany rejected a proposal for an arms embargo on the country in the lead up to a European Union summit in December.
Following the meeting with his German counterpart Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer in Berlin on Tuesday, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said that the two countries are set to take concrete steps in bilateral defence and security policy.
Meanwhile Greece is proceeding with plans to upgrade its defence infrastructure, with its navy signing a contract with Atlas Elektronik, a German company to produce and upgrade submarine torpedoes, the Naval News reported in November.
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