Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Tayyip Erdogan agreed on a new beginning in Greek-Turkish relations at yesterday’s meeting in Vilnius, with political dialogue and continuation of “calm waters” in the Aegean.

According to what the SKAI correspondent in Istanbul reports Manolis Kostidisboth sides talked about all issues, in a very good atmosphere.

Erdogan’s assurances about the F-16s: They will not be used against Greece

The Turkish president assured that “F-16s will not be used against Greece, as they have never been used” in a message to Senator Bob Menendez and Congress to quell objections.

Erdogan said: “On the issue of the arrival of F-16s, Greece and Northern Cyprus, we had a meeting with Mitsotakis. We do not aim to win enemies. Erdogan’s goal is not to increase enemies, but to increase friends. There is absolutely no chance that the F-16s will be used in this direction (against Greece) as it has not happened until now.”

How the Turkish media comment on the conversion

In the Turkish media, it is commented that after the “Mitsotakis yoke” Erdogan met with the Greek prime minister, while Erdogan’s statement that he will not use the F-16s against Greece is surprising.

Fox Haber reported the following: “President Erdogan spoke this way a year ago before the NATO summit in Spain. He was angry with Mitsotakis who had traveled to the USA and had blamed Turkey when there was tension in the Aegean and had closed the gates to Athens. The two leaders participated in the NATO Summit. This time they met! Their warm and smiling image caused an impression.”

F-16: Hopes, not a deal

Regarding the issue of the sale of F-16s to Turkey, Erdogan spoke of “hopes”, but not of an agreement: “Biden told me that he will follow the issue and that he has hopes”, he said.

Erdogan said: “What the president told us is that the Congress is binding. He said he will do whatever he can. He told me ‘I will watch it and I have hopes’. He told us that just as it has to go through the National Assembly, so it has to be approved by the Congress. He mentioned that some members of Congress from the Democrats and sometimes from the Republicans put up obstacles. But both Mr. President and Mr. Foreign Minister told us that they will monitor the issue and I hope that in this process we will get a positive result. I have higher hopes than ever.”

On her subject Sweden’s accession to NATO Erdogan said it will be discussed when parliament opens: “On Monday night with Sweden there was a preliminary draft with seven conditions. We will send it to our Parliament. But our Parliament is now closed. When it opens, the president of the National Assembly will forward it for approval.”

Turkish analysts talk about their concerns about the F-16 program saying that “if the US approves the F-16 VIPER, the first fighter will come in 2028”.

The military analyst Then Yarar he said: “Today if the issue of F-16 is decided, that is if the USA says ‘I have decided to give you the F-16’ the first fighter will reach us in 2028!”.

“So after 5 years?” asked the reporter.

“Yes, after 5 years. In other words, we today if we stick to something that is currently in production. There is no way that these fighters will arrive before 2028,” the analyst continued and added: “If we take the F-16 Viper, that is, the new fighters. Then we won’t be able to use any of the weapon systems we produce ourselves, such as air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles.”