The deep concern caused by the recent agreement between the Turkish company Baykar and the French company Safran, just a few days after the effusive statements that followed the renewal of the strategic partnership agreement between Greece and France on cooperation in security and defense, as highlighted in a timely question to the Minister of National Defense by PASOK MP and head of the National Defense Committee, Michalis Katrinis.
As he points out, the France-Turkey agreement, which is of high operational value, provides for the integration of French Euroflir electro-optical systems into Turkish Bayraktar unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as the supply of “smart” munitions and navigation and targeting systems, substantially enhancing the operational capabilities of the Turkish defense industry.
Michalis Katrinis emphasizes that this development takes on particular significance when one considers that the unmanned aerial vehicle sector is currently one of Turkey’s most significant comparative advantages over Greece. The strengthening of this very sector by a country with which Greece maintains a strategic defense relationship raises legitimate questions about the content and substance of the relevant commitments.
At the same time, it underscores that the agreement comes at a time when the European Union is attempting to formulate a common defense agenda and strengthen the European defense industry for the benefit of its member states.
At the same time, Turkey has not only failed to abandon its revisionist policy toward Greece but is proceeding with the imminent adoption by the Turkish Grand National Assembly of the “Blue Homeland” doctrine, while continuing its provocations and violations of national airspace.
In his topical question, the PASOK spokesperson for National Defense asks the Minister of National Defense to explain what actions the Greek side has taken to prevent this specific development and how he intends to ensurethat no such agreements will be made in the future, drawing on the provisions of the renewed Greek-French agreement expected to be ratified shortly.
At the same time, it calls on him to state whether he intends to inform his counterparts in the member states of the European Union, in order to prevent similar defense agreements with Turkey in the future that provide military support to a country which continues to challenge the sovereign rights of a member state of the Union.