Türkiye strong actor with growing defense industry: Greece
ATHENS
Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis has praised Türkiye’s advancements in the defense industry, stating that Ankara’s recent achievements in this field have rendered the country a formidable actor both regionally and internationally.
“Türkiye, with its independent defense industry, is a strong element in both regional and international arenas. It is a NATO partner and therefore our ally within the transatlantic alliance,” Gerapetritis told reporters during a forum organized by the Greek newspaper To Vima.
He also emphasized that Türkiye’s is a candidate country in the EU accession process, which entails certain responsibilities stemming from this status.
Highlighting the significant improvement in Turkish-Greek relations compared to two years ago, Gerapetritis said that progress has been made in areas such as the positive agenda, trade relations and the Cyprus issue.
He noted that during an informal visit to Istanbul last week, he held an unofficial dinner meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, during which they discussed current international and regional issues, Cyprus, the High-Level Cooperation Council meeting, political dialogue and the positive agenda.
‘Best years in trade’
Gerapetritis pointed out a notable recent increase in the volume of bilateral trade, recalling that both President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis set a goal to double trade between the two countries.
“We are making solid progress in that direction, and I believe the coming years will mark the best period in Greek Turkish economic cooperation,” he said.
He also stated that the next high-level meeting is planned for the summer, and that during the upcoming NATO Foreign Ministers Meeting in Antalya, efforts will be made to identify a suitable date for this council gathering.
