Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias rued how Türkiye took leaps in the defense industry while his country did not "produce a single thing." Dendias, who took the step for a rare thaw in Turkish-Greek relations by visiting the neighboring country as foreign minister following the 2023 earthquakes in southern Türkiye, also expressed concerns about the state of ties "after Erdoğan."
On Dec. 7, 2023, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan paid a landmark visit to Greece after the two neighboring countries experienced a tumultuous relationship in recent years. Erdoğan said in a news conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens that there is no issue between Türkiye and Greece that cannot be resolved and that they want to "turn the Aegean into a sea of peace and cooperation."
Türkiye and Greece announced the Athens Declaration on Friendly Relations and Good-Neighbourliness, in which they stressed that they are committed to fostering friendly relations, mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and understanding and seeking resolution to any dispute between in line with international law.
Greece must prepare its armed forces for possible "instability" after the end of Erdoğan's latest term, Dendias said in an interview with the Kathimerini newspaper on Sunday.
"What will happen to Türkiye when Erdoğan is gone? We don't know. Türkiye is not a static country," Nikos Dendias said. "There is always instability during the succession of a powerful, long-running leader ... That means we must be ready for any eventuality before 2030," he said. "In general, our region does not allow for complacency. We have many sources of instability around us that require us to have modern armed forces," Dendias said.
"Just look at where Türkiye and Greece were in 1980 and where we and Türkiye are today, in 2024. Türkiye has made leaps forward while we have taken steps back. That is not acceptable. I don't view the issue as a competition with Türkiye – that is something I must not do – but looking at my country, at its needs and its potential, I am not at all ready to say that the present situation is acceptable and the only one that is possible. It can do a lot better," Kathimerini quoted the minister.
Greece has the highest defense budget as a share of the gross domestic product (GDP) of all the NATO allies. It has placed multibillion-euro orders of U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets, French Rafale jets and Belharra frigates.
But Dendias said there was "decadeslong dysfunction" in Greece's aerospace industry and the air force lacked transport planes. He said that Athens would henceforth commit part of its defense budget "exclusively" to Greek-made weapons for the armed forces. The minister also bemoaned that there were military "units at 25% to 30% capacity scattered all over the country."
"The effectiveness of our armed forces can no longer be something we confirm at parades," he said.
