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Greece has announced a massive arms deal amid mounting tensions with Turkey. The new weapons that Greece will buy include 18 French Raphael fighter jets, four frigates and four naval helicopters.
Greek Prime Minister Kiriakos Mitsotakis has said that 15,000 more soldiers will be added to the country’s army in the next five years.
The weapons that Greece will buy include torpedoes for the navy, anti-tank weapons and missiles for the air force. This will be the largest arms purchase in Greece in the last two decades.
Tensions between Greece and Turkey have increased considerably in recent times due to the search for gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean.
“The time has come to strengthen the armed forces. This year’s arms purchases are a program that will serve as a shield for the country,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said.
Turkey recently sent oil exploration ships to the waters off the Greek island of Castellorizo, an area in southwestern Turkey.
In response, Greece conducted a naval exercise with several EU countries and the United Arab Emirates. France backs Greece in its dispute with Turkey.
French President Emmanuel Macron has said that “what Turkey is doing is unacceptable” and that it is important to address it clearly and firmly.
Turkey and Greece are members of the NATO alliance. Furthermore, Greece is a member of the European Union and Turkey is a member of the EU.
Cyprus, an island divided between the two countries, has long been a focus of immigration problems.
Turkey recently turned Aya Sophia, a nanny from Istanbul, into a mosque, which was once an Orthodox Christian church for centuries. Greece strongly opposed the measure. BBC
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