Turkey has officially announced a 229% increase in its weapons procurement budget, bringing its total defense spending t...

Turkey has officially announced a 229% increase in its weapons procurement budget, bringing its total defense spending to 40 billion euros, according to an announcement by Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz. The figure covers weapons, ammunition, and weapons systems under the Ministry of National Defense, on top of a separate 22.6 billion dollar allocation for internal security. The announcement comes as Turkish media, including Hurriyet, are closely tracking Greece's own arms buildup. Hurriyet noted that Athens has committed 30 billion euros to defense over the next decade, recently signed a 3.5 billion euro ammunition deal with Washington, and locked in a 3 billion euro agreement with Israel in August for the "Achilles Shield" air defense system. The paper also flagged that Greece, already equipped with F-35s, Rafales, and French frigates, is now looking at German submarines to expand its naval capabilities. Turkey's Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar separately confirmed that Ankara will purchase diesel fuel from Russia, citing energy security as the rationale and pointing to the US-Russia supply agreement as cover for the move. Turkey already relies on Russia for a significant share of its energy needs, alongside Iran and Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, CNN Turk reported a "NAVTEX war" between Greece and Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean starting today, October 19. Greece issued a NAVTEX for its multinational military exercise "Evnomia," involving four countries, and Turkey responded with a counter-NAVTEX declaring the Greek notice void. Ankara also warned that a planned undersea power cable linking Greece to Cyprus and Israel passes through what it considers Turkish continental shelf, and that any cable-laying or research activities in that area require Turkish prior approval. A survey vessel is scheduled to begin work on the cable project on October 21. Turkish analysts openly stated on air that a direct confrontation with Greece over the cable, east of Crete, is a realistic scenario. #GreeceTurkey #EasternMediterranean #DefenseNews