Turkey will continue to “annoy those on the other side of the sea,” president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said in what is seen as a fresh swipe against Greece following a thaw in relations between the two countries.
“You will have noticed that every success of our defense industry annoys the [opposition] and those on the other side of the sea. But, don’t get me wrong, we will continue to annoy them… We are Turkey,” Erdogan said at the presentation of a new Turkish-built fighter jet in an event at Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) headquarters, in Ankara on Monday.
Named Kaan, the fifth-generation, 21-meter jet is able to reach a maximum speed of 1.8 Mach thanks to its twin engines, according to Daily Sabah. It is designed to gradually replace Turkey’s fleet of F-16s, which are to be phased out starting next decade, the report added.
The new jet named Kaan “will be able to drop bombs and missiles on the enemy and return to base without being detected” Erdogan added.
Erdogan’s comments come as Turkey heads into general elections on May 14, and follows a series of aggressive comments also by other high-ranking officials.
Odd enough, in the pre-elections campaign in Greece the issues with neighboring Turkey have not come up, so far.
PS we still have time until May 21, even though the Greek-Turkish relations seem to be a taboo topic in the country ahead of elections.
