Turkish Minister of Defense Yasar Guler called Greece’s demand that Turkey lift a 30-year war threat (casus belli) against its neighbor to the west a “mistake.” Talking to the Reuters news agency, Guler said such demands were a mistake, amounting to “involving multilateral platforms in bilateral disputes”.
Ahead of the upcoming NATO Summit at the end of June, the Turkish minister stated that his country would request that the EU, which is planning to drastically increase defense spending, ease restrictions that provide the majority of military funding should be allocated within the European Union.
Guler expressed hope that a likely meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump would open a path for the lifting of the American arms embargo and for Turkey to be included in the F-35 program again.
Turkey, the second-largest military power in NATO after the United States, possesses advanced capabilities in areas such as unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), which could prove particularly valuable to European allies, according to comments by Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler, as Europe prepares for a wave of increased defense spending.
“Allies must not only spend more but spend smarter. Greater cooperation is needed now more than ever,” the Turkish Minister of Defense emphasized, responding to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent call for NATO countries to raise their defense spending to 5% of GDP.
Ankara, Guler said, is eager to “build the security of the future together with Europe,” stressing that Turkey is ready to collaborate with “open-minded and visionary European partners,” whether within or outside the framework of the Strategic Arms and Force Enhancement (SAFE) initiative. He specifically highlighted potential cooperation in fields such as drone technology, air defense systems, naval and ground platforms, electronic warfare, radar systems, and munitions.
