After Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to strengthen cooperation in the defense industry between the two countries, the Greek government responded strongly.
When the two leaders met in Ankara on Wednesday (November 17), Erdogan praised Sanchez for announcing an armament plan for cooperation with Spain.
He specifically reminded that Turkey and Spain cooperated in the construction of the Turkish Navy “Anadolu” amphibious assault ship, which can be configured as a light aircraft carrier.
The Turkish President also proposed to build a larger aircraft carrier for his country.
“Our goal is to build a large aircraft carrier. Maybe we will also make efforts in the submarine field. We will take these steps. We can do a lot in the defense industry together,” Erdogan said.
Erdogan added that Spain’s position on Turkey should be regarded as a “model” by other EU countries and expressed satisfaction with the investment of more than 600 Spanish companies in Turkey.
“The existence of the Spanish bank BBWA is the most concrete sign of confidence in Turkey,” he said.
Since the beginning of the tension in natural gas exploration activities in the Eastern Mediterranean, Spain has always opposed Greece’s request for EU sanctions against Turkey.
Greece claims that Turkey’s natural gas exploration activities in its territorial waters violated international law.
In October 2020, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias (Nikos Dendias) Sent a letter The colleagues from Germany, Spain and Italy pointed out that it is necessary to impose an arms embargo on Turkey.
According to official data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Spain and Italy are the main European suppliers of weapons to Turkey.
Especially in the period 2015-2019, 43% of Turkey’s arms imports came from Italy and Spain.
Athens, the Spanish opposition is “annoyed”
The flirtation between Spain and Turkey annoyed Athens.
Giannis Oikonomou, spokesman for the Greek government, said that “it goes without saying” that EU member states are bound by the decision of the Council of the European Union on “relationships with Turkey and the latter’s provocation and violation of international law”.
“The Socialist Spanish Prime Minister should take into account the overall position of the European Council,” the Greek official said.
In Athens, critics believe that the Spanish-Turkish reconciliation is no coincidence, especially after Greece and France signed an agreement. Landmark military agreement Provide mutual assistance when one party is attacked by a third country, even if the latter belongs to NATO.
Analysts estimate that Spain is not optimistic about France’s increasing participation in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Sanchez’s efforts to promote a closer relationship with Turkey have also attracted criticism from Spain’s main opposition party.
Pablo Casado, leader of the center-right People’s Party, emphasized that his party continues to support the territorial integrity of Greece and Cyprus.
“After Sanchez’s visit to Turkey, our People’s Party (PP) reiterated that we support the territorial integrity of Greece and Cyprus as EU member states and respect human rights and common security and immigration policies in our international relations,” he said.
