Turkey deepens Europe defense ties with UK aircraft deal, German security talks

ANKARA — As Turkey expands its defense cooperation with European powers, Ankara has purchased military cargo planes from the United Kingdom and will host Germany’s foreign minister for talks on joint defense projects.

Turkey has purchased 12 military transport aircraft from the United Kingdom, a Turkish Defense Ministry source told reporters on Thursday on condition of anonymity.

The planes are undergoing maintenance and modernization before being delivered to the Turkish Air Force, the source added without giving a date.

The United Kingdom, which retired its fleet of US-made Lockheed C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft in 2023 after more than 50 years in service and replaced them with the European-made Airbus A400M Atlas aircraft, has since been seeking buyers.

Ankara’s purchase comes as defense ties between Turkey and European countries are expanding in the face of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and US President Donald Trump’s push for NATO members to increase their defense spending to 5% of GDP annually by 2035.

Cooperation on defense is also set to be discussed during German Foreign Minister David Wadephul’s talks with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, in Ankara on Friday.

Close cooperation between Turkey and Germany on issues including European security “has gained even greater importance,” a Turkish diplomatic source told journalists on Thursday.

Turkey has been seeking greater involvement in joint European defense projects under the Security Action for Europeinitiative, launched in May. SAFE is set to provide more than $173 billion in low-interest loans aimed at boosting defense cooperation through joint procurements, but access to the fund requires unanimous approval by EU member states.

Fidan and Wadephul are expected to discuss “potential collaboration opportunities within the EU’s SAFE mechanism,” the Turkish diplomatic source said on Thursday.

But Turkey is unable to access the fund as EU member Greece has conditioned it on the removal of Ankara’s threat of military action against Athens issued in 1995 over Greece's possible extension of its territorial waters in the Aegean Sea. The resolution, passed unanimously by the Turkish Parliament, came in response to Greece having expressed its intention to expand its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles the same year, a move that Ankara argues against under international law. Despite being NATO allies, Turkey and Greece lack a maritime border agreement due to overlapping territorial claims in the Aegean Sea.

NATO member Turkey, in turn, maintains that European defense initiatives should also include the Transatlantic bloc’s non-EU members. 

Germany, which has been at the forefront of efforts to strengthen European defense amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, is seeking to find common ground between Ankara and Athens over Turkey’s access to the EU’s SAFE mechanism, a Western official familiar with the issue told Al-Monitor, on condition of anonymity.

Wadephul was set to visit Athens on Monday prior to his visit to Turkey, but the visit was postponed due to Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias traveling to Egypt for the Gaza peace summit.

“Our security in Europe stands and falls with NATO’s cohesion,” Wadephul told Greek newspaper Ta Nea last week, according to an official transcript on the Federal Foreign Office’s website.

“Greece and Turkey are both key players in the Mediterranean region. It’s crucial that we stand united despite our differences — against all those who want to test our security, especially Russia,” he added.

Following Wadephul’s visit, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is expected to travel to Turkey in the coming days, the Turkish source said.

[Source: Al-Monitor]