Breaking news... Türkiye was at the center of the meeting between the Greek Minister and the British Minister: 'We are worried'

The possibility of selling the medium-range air- to-air missile Meteor to Turkey was one of the agenda items of the meeting in London between Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias and UK Defense Secretary John Healey . The Greek newspaper Kathimerini, which said that "the possibility of Turkey purchasing Meteor was at the center of the talks," used the expressions, "The Greek side stated that it was against this sale and expressed its concerns about the possible export of Meteor missiles to Ankara."

'HE VOICED HIS OBJECTION'

In Turkey's initiative regarding the Meteor missile, an additional agreement was also brought to the agenda for the purchase of a total of 40 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets within the scope of the Air Force modernization program.

According to Kathimerini, Dendias personally expressed his objection to the possible sale of Meteor missiles to Turkey during his meeting with British Defense Minister Healey.

HE GOES ON FRANCE'S ATTITUDE

The Kathimerini newspaper reported in January that Turkey had requested to purchase the Meteor missiles. These missiles are manufactured by the MBDA European missile consortium, which includes Airbus from France, BAE Systems from England and Leonardo Finmeccanica from Italy. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had also voiced his objections to the sale of Meteor missiles to Turkey in a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the beginning of the month.

France had announced that it would not oppose the sale of the Meteor missile, a radar-guided air-to-air missile jointly produced by six European countries, including France. French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornux had reportedly said in a session of the French Parliament, in response to a question from MP Marie Récalde, that Paris had no control over British arms exports and was not planning to interfere with the deal.

HOW DID THE 'METEOR TENSION' BEGIN?

The Greek newspaper Kathimerini confirmed that Macron had been negotiating to sell Meteor missiles to Turkey, but noted that this did not mean that a definitive agreement would be reached. The French leader said that the decisive country in this sales process was not France but England.

According to the newspaper's sources, the Greek government will continue to monitor the process closely but will not make a direct attempt to stop the sale.

EVERY COUNTRY'S APPROVAL IS REQUIRED

The Meteor missile, which is a joint production of France, England, Spain, Italy, Sweden and Germany, requires the approval of all partner countries for its sale to any country.

FOUR TIMES FASTER THAN SOUND

The missile can reach speeds of up to 200 kilometers, has the capacity to move four times faster than sound, and tracks its target with its own radar system, providing high hit precision.

The biggest advantage of the Meteor missiles is that they allow the pilot of the jet they are launched from to fire the missile at the enemy aircraft without being noticed, reducing the target's chance of escape to almost zero. Athens opposes the sale of the missiles to Turkey because it is concerned that Turkey will increase its air superiority in the Aegean.

METEOR STATEMENT FROM MSB

Last week, MoD sources told reporters the following about Greece's reaction to France over the Meteor missiles Turkey was planning to purchase:

"The Meteor missile is a new generation long-range missile of European origin among air-to-air missiles. We plan to add Meteor missiles to our inventory within the scope of the Eurofighter Typhoon procurement project. As we always say, our priority is domestic and national weapons and systems. In this context, we plan to strengthen our Air Force with the GÖKHAN air-to-air missile, which is an equivalent to the Meteor missile we are developing. Until the GÖKHAN missile enters the inventory, the procurement efforts for the Meteor missile along with the Eurofighter aircraft continue without any problems."