Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis has told MPs that there is currently “no question” of the United States lifting restrictions on the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, stressing that any change would require a new decision by the US Congress.
Responding in parliament to a question from Course of Freedom MP Alexandros Kazamias concerning reports that US President Donald Trump could seek to restore Turkey’s access to the stealth fighter programme, Gerapetritis said such reports did not alter the current legal framework.
He said Greece-US relations were “at their best point ever” and insisted that Athens had both the international standing and diplomatic relationships needed to safeguard its national interests.
Gerapetritis noted that when the New Democracy government took office in 2019, Greece was outside both the F-35 programme and the F-16 upgrade programme, while Turkey remained part of the F-35 project. He said the situation had since been reversed, with Greece securing the purchase of 20 F-35s, with an option for 20 more, while 56 of its 83 upgraded F-16 fighter jets had already been delivered.
“Our national rights are absolutely non-negotiable,” he said. “We always exhaust every possibility to defend them.”
