Dendias on Turkey’s F-35 Bid: “Greece Is Not Happy” — A Message to Washington and Ankara

Greece's first official response to President Trump's renewed openness toward Turkey's return to the F-35 program. Defense Minister Nikos Dendias questioned whether rearming Ankara serves U.S. strategic interests, warning that NATO's southeastern flank cannot be strengthened by empowering a country that continues to threaten another Alliance member.

Greece has delivered its first clear political and strategic response following President Donald Trump’s remarks suggesting that Turkey could be readmitted to the F-35 fighter jet program.

Speaking at the Economist conference, Defense Minister Nikos Dendias made it clear that Athens views such a prospect with serious concern.

“Greece is not happy if Turkey acquires F-35s. Greece is not happy if Turkey receives engines for next-generation fighter aircraft,” Dendias said.

While acknowledging that decisions regarding U.S. arms exports rest solely with Washington, the Greek defense minister refrained from challenging America’s sovereign right to decide whom it sells weapons to. Instead, he reframed the issue as one of strategic judgment.

“It is not for us to judge what the United States does or to whom it sells weapons. That is the responsibility of the U.S. government. But we do have one question: Is this truly in America’s strategic interest?” he stated.

Dendias linked the debate directly to NATO’s security architecture in the Eastern Mediterranean, stressing that military transfers cannot be assessed independently of Turkey’s long-standing threats against Greece.

“Providing an advanced weapons program to one country in the Eastern Mediterranean without guarantees that it will never be used against another NATO member—is that really in the interests of the United States?” he asked.

His remarks came only days after the NATO Summit in Ankara, where President Trump indicated he was open to reconsidering Turkey’s participation in the F-35 program as part of a broader effort to reset relations with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In Athens, officials are closely monitoring developments, viewing any shift in U.S. policy toward Ankara as having direct implications for the military balance in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean.

Greek officials continue to argue that discussions about advanced military equipment for Turkey cannot be separated from Ankara’s casus belli against Greece, its repeated violations of Greek airspace and maritime claims, and its broader revisionist posture in the region.

Dendias’ intervention reflects Athens’ broader strategic approach: respect for U.S. sovereign decisions, coupled with a clear reminder that NATO’s southeastern flank cannot be strengthened if advanced military capabilities are transferred without credible assurances that they will not be directed against another member of the Alliance.

For Greece, the question is no longer simply whether Turkey should receive the F-35.

It is whether doing so enhances—or undermines—the long-term security interests of NATO and the United States in one of the Alliance’s most volatile strategic theaters.

Source: pagenews.gr