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Russia upgrades Greek S-300 missiles - retired Turkish admiral

1 September 2022 16:37 (UTC+04:00)
Russia upgrades Greek S-300 missiles - retired Turkish admiral

By Yasemin Asan

Retired Turkish admiral Cihat Yayci has said that Greece had modernized its S-300 missiles and the defense system is in use rather than kept in Greek air force hangars.

Russia has upgraded the missiles to the level of S-400 in 2018 and 2019, Yayci said in an interview with Turkiye’s Yeni Shafak newspaper. While Turkiye is being sanctioned for acquiring S-400s from Moscow in an unjust manner, Greece faced no protest in this regard, he said.

In December 1998, Greece purchased the missiles from Cyprus and placed them on the island of Crete to resolve a dispute between Cyprus and Turkiye over the acquisition of the weapons from Russia. Turkiye has liberated the northern part of Cyprus since 1974, following a short Greek Cypriot coup supported by Greece's military dictatorship at the time.

“Russian experts came and upgraded their version. They have upgraded the S-300s almost to the level of S-400," Yayci said.

Earlier this week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Greece of employing S-300s to track and harass Turkish F-16 fighter jets operating in international airspace over the Mediterranean Sea. The charges were dismissed by Greek officials.

“It is unacceptable for a NATO member state to do this to a NATO member state. NATO should be called to an emergency meeting," Yayci said. "Once the records of abuse are submitted to NATO, a decision must be made against Greece.”

Turkiye has been sanctioned by the United States for buying S-400 air defense systems from Russia in 2019. The measures included barring it from the F-35 stealth fighter program. Greece, which is also a NATO member, is ordering a batch of F-35s as part of efforts to modernize its air force. Turkiye is meeting some political resistance in Congress to a request to modernize its F-16 fleet of jets.

Yayci, who is recognized as the architect of the Turkish government’s expansionary-minded ‘Blue Homeland’ policy towards territories in the Aegean and Mediterranean, said sanctions were being imposed on Turkiye while not a word was being said about the actions of Greece.

Yayci, who retired from the Turkish armed forces in 2020, is head of the Turkish Maritime and Global Strategies Center (TURKDEGS).

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