Once again, the Germans are supporting Turkey, while a few days ago they clearly showed their annoyance for the purchase of French fighter jets for the Greek Air Force.
According to information, Germany is "invalidating" in the most official way the Greek request for an arms embargo on Turkey. Berlin with is trying to keep Ankara "upright", in the midst of challenges in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean.
In a telephone conversation with the German Minister of Defense on Wednesday, the Minister of National Defense, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, asked Berlin to suspend the construction program of six 214 type submarines - similar to the four Greek Papanikolis type - arguing that they would be used by the continuation of the expansionist Turkish policy in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, as stated in greek newspaper "Proto Thema".
The German Defense Minister reportedly replied that the program to build and sell in Turkey the six submarines type 214 can not be stopped - or even delayed - because the manufacturer Thyssen is bound by contracts signed since 2002.
Nikos Panagiotopoulos's communication with Annegret Krab-Karrenbauer was initiated by the German Minister of Defense in the context of the preparations for the talks he will have next week with his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar.
According to information, the German minister asked to be informed of the Greek positions on the issues raised by the Turks on a number of issues related to the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean.
The € 2.5 billion contract for the 6 submarines was awarded in 2009 but was activated in 2011, because the problems presented in the Greek program led to extensive changes to the Turkish submarines, which were extended and are more displaced. In fact, for this delay, the German TKMS was asked to pay a fine of €100 million.
The first of these submarines, the PIRI REIS (S330) was launched on December 22, 2019 and will be put into service in April 2021, to be followed from 2022 by the rest, in service, one per year. In other words, there are only a few months left until the first Type 214TN submarine becomes operational.
In fact the Turkish submarines will have the ability to attack targets on land and air, creating another danger not only to the Greek navy, but also to the Greek land forces, especially on the islands, the frontline of Greek defenses.
The two Turkish defense companies, Aselsan and Roketsan, have been embroiled in a major race to produce systems for submarines, as well as missiles, laser weapons and other covert programs despite the country's financial woes.
