Hadjivassiliou: Turkey’s road to the F-35 is long and difficult

“It was an costly summons for Turkey to participate the White House, arsenic the Turkish President went with a buying database worthy billions,” Serres MP and New Democracy’s International Relations and EU Secretary Tasos Hadjivassiliou said successful an interrogation with SKAI connected Friday morning. He recalled that “Greece has already established its relation arsenic a reliable ally, with a pb successful defence and energy.”

Hatzivassiliou recalled that Recep Tayyip Erdogan had not visited the White House for six years, and referred to the US president’s stance, saying that “Trump praised Turkey’s relation successful Syria, wants to flooded difficulties successful the US defence narration with Ankara, but astatine the aforesaid clip sent crisp messages.” He made peculiar notation of the “awkward moment” of Trump’s notation to predetermination fraud, but besides of the “positive notation to the Halki Theological School”, which helium linked to the US President’s gathering with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

The MP noted, however, that “the narration is not a fruitless one” and listed the main thorns: “Erdogan’s statements connected Israel and Turkey’s relations with Hamas; the dependence connected Russian state and oil, which tin hardly beryllium reversed immediately; Turkey’s relations with China; and of people the Russian S-400 missiles.” On the second issue, helium made it wide that “if Turkey does not find a convincing solution, it cannot rejoin the F-35 program.” As helium said, adjacent if determination was a volition of the US government, “the stumbling artifact is called Congress,” wherever “there are galore members of Congress, adjacent Republicans, who reason strengthening the US-Turkey defence relationship.”
In contrast, helium pointed retired that Greece has already secured a important clip lead: “Even if Turkey theoretically rejoins the program, Greece has already secured its information and expects the archetypal F-35 transportation successful 2028. We are already completing the F-16 upgrade, we person acquired Rafale and are launching the 4th frigate. These are elements that show our beardown nationalist defense.”

At the aforesaid time, helium noted the value of US positions successful favour of Greece: “The alleged US Super Secretary of Energy, Mr. Doug Bergham, came to Greece conscionable a fewer days ago, speaking intelligibly astir our relation successful the vigor information of the Eastern Mediterranean.” He stressed that Athens does not question to exclude leaders from the White House, but “has ensured successful caller years a beardown beingness and promotion of nationalist positions some successful the White House and successful Congress.”

In closing, helium criticized the opposition: “I saw successful Italy, erstwhile the Erdogan-Meloni gathering was cancelled, seriousness from the opposition. Here, immoderate radical spoke of nationalist decision and humiliation. Unfortunately, these phenomena are a Greek prerogative.”