Turkey, Italy and France will resume tripartite defense co-operation, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on March 24, adding that the three countries would meet soon, according to the Hürriyet newspaper.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with the Italian Prime Minister on March 24 on the sidelines of an extraordinary summit of NATO leaders in Brussels. while not securing a meeting with US President Biden.
Speaking after the meeting, Draghi recalled that one of the co-operation platforms was set up between Turkey, France and Italy in recent years, but was later discontinued. “We have decided to reactivate this group, we will have a meeting between three countries soon,” he said.
Ankara reached an initial agreement with the Franco-Italian consortium on 14 July 2017 on the development of Turkey’s national defense systems and signed an agreement in early 2018 on an 18-month study to identify potential needs and priorities for joint production of an anti-ballistic missile system. The proposed system will be a more advanced version of Eurosam’s current SAMP-T air defense systems.
The process was halted for the first time since Operation Peace Source, or more simply the third Turkish invasion of northern Syria in 2019, which was condemned by the French parliament.
Erdogan said tripartite co-operation on SAMP-T systems was discussed in his meetings with both Draghi and French President Emanuel Macron. Ankara hopes to vigorously resume defense industry co-operation between the three countries after the next French elections, the president said.
“There have been some steps we have taken between Turkey and France. We have decided to continue our efforts to reconsider these steps, Turkey-France relations, and even to revive the steps we took as Turkey-France-Italy. I hope we will start dynamically. this new process after the elections “, Erdogan told a group of journalists on March 24 during his flight from Belgium to Turkey.
Recalling Macron’s statement in 2019 that “they were experiencing NATO brain death”, Erdogan said that the latest developments proved the opposite.
“It was a very unfortunate statement. After this unfortunate statement, Macron is currently one of the leaders playing the most active role in NATO. He is quite diligent,” he said.
Petros Kranias
Source: Capital
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
