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Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias said Thursday that Greece would not be happy if Türkiye obtained F-35 fighter jets or engines for next-generation aircraft, following this week's NATO summit in Ankara.
Speaking at the 30th Annual Government Roundtable titled “Progress in an Age of Upheaval: Geopolitics-Growth-Technology” in Athens, Dendias commented on developments from the NATO summit in Ankara and the possibility of Türkiye's return to the U.S. F-35 fighter jet program.
"Greece will not be happy if Türkiye receives F-35s, nor if it receives engines for next-generation fighter jets," Dendias said.
"Our general approach is that we will not judge what the U.S. does or to whom it sells. That is the business of the U.S. government," he said, before raising a question for Washington to consider.
"But we do have a question: Is it in the real interest of the United States? Yes or no? This must be answered by the American people and government," he added.
Dendias closed his remarks by framing the issue in terms of U.S. strategic interests.
"It is certain that for the U.S. government, NATO and especially stability in the Southeastern Mediterranean are critical. Is giving a weapons program to a country in the Eastern Mediterranean, without assurance that this program will not be used against another member state, for or against U.S. interests?" he said.
Türkiye was originally suspended from the F-35 program in 2019 during Trump's first term after Washington objected to Ankara's purchase of Russia's S-400 missile defense system, arguing that the Russian hardware could compromise the stealth jet's technology.
Ankara has proposed forming a joint commission to examine the issue and maintains that it fulfilled all of its obligations under the program.
Ankara has repeatedly maintained that there is no technical conflict between the two systems, even proposing a joint commission to study the issue.
The Turkish government continues to argue that its suspension violated established program rules and that the acquisition of the jets would ultimately strengthen NATO as a whole.
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