OR Greek government exerts severe pressure on France to stop selling meteor rockets directed by radar to Turkey.

Possible sale was found on the agenda of the meeting on Monday between the French president Emmanuel Macron and the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakou Mitsotakis in Paris on the sidelines of the World Summit for Artificial Intelligence, according to Greek government officials.

Athens is trying to stop selling, as this would endanger its recently acquired air supremacy in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Greece bought 24 French-made Rafale fighter aircraft, but Turkey cannot easily respond to it after being eliminated by the F-35 program in 2019 after the purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system.

On the contrary, Ankara now intends to buy 40 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft – 20 used by the United Kingdom and 20 News – and wants to be equipped with meteors. The rockets are manufactured by the European MBDA weapon construction company based in Paris.

Although they are NATO allies, Athens and Ankara have been arguing for years over a number of bilateral disputes, including maritime borders, overlapping claims in their continental shelf and Cyprus.

At the end of January, the Greek Minister of Defense Nikos Dendias called the French ambassador to Athens, Laurence Auerasking “A formal briefing on sale reports.”

“I expressed to the French ambassador the strong opposition of Greece to such a possibility that it is incompatible with the excellent strategic relations between the two countries.”Dendias said in his post on the X platform.

In seeking to alleviate Athens’ concerns, a French diplomat told the Greek media that The United Kingdom, not France, is leading talks on the agreement.

The French diplomat also pointed out an important military agreement signed in 2021 between Athens and Paris, which included a clause for mutual defense aid.

The same line was repeated in the meeting Macron – Mitsotaki Monday.

“The French president has confirmed to the Greek Prime Minister the France’s commitment to the French Greek strategic partnership and the security of Greece”according to the announcement of the meeting by the French Presidency.

Despite Greece’s concerns, several EU countries are selling weapons in Turkey.

Athens is also preparing an official protest against Italy for its defense agreement with Turkey. Greece argues that Rome has bypassed European regulations Approved the sale of Piaggio Aerospace to Turkish Baykar without informing EU partners, according to the Greek newspaper Daily.

Greece strongly protested Germany’s 2.5 billion -euro agreement for six submarines to Ankara.

Spain contributed to the construction of the Turkish aircraft carrier Anadolu, and in December the two sides signed an agreement on the Jet Trainer Aircraft Project.

Meanwhile, the United States Congress may review Turkey’s participation in the F-35 fighter aircraft program, according to a report by the Congress Research Service.