Greece is watching closely as Donald Trump weighs a potential F-35 sale to Turkey, with officials in Athens fearing the ...

Greece is watching closely as Donald Trump weighs a potential F-35 sale to Turkey, with officials in Athens fearing the move could hand Ankara a decisive air superiority edge in the Aegean. Greece is already scheduled to receive its first 20 F-35 stealth fighters between 2028 and the early 2030s, making the jet the cornerstone of the Hellenic Air Force's modernization. The concern is simple: if Turkey gets them too, Greece loses the qualitative edge it has been counting on. Vassilis Nedos, diplomatic and defense correspondent for Kathimerini, told The Jerusalem Post that Athens has repeatedly raised the issue with successive US administrations. Greek officials have not commented publicly, but Nedos was blunt about the frustration: "Why give a qualitative edge to the Turkish Air Force?" he said. The history behind that frustration matters. Before 2023, there were daily Turkish overflights above Greek islands in the Aegean, sovereignty violations, and what Nedos described as "very dangerous dogfights." Greece cannot formally block the deal since it is ultimately a transaction between two sovereign nations, but its arguments have been made at every level, politically, diplomatically, and through military channels. While the F-35 question hangs in the air, Greece is pushing ahead with one of its biggest defense buildups in decades. The government is expected to approve the Achilles Shield, a 3.5 billion euro integrated air defense network built from Israeli systems, covering anti-drone, anti-ballistic missile, and broader air defense capabilities. The Greece-Israel defense partnership, Nedos said, goes beyond their shared unease about Turkey. He sees it as a durable strategic alignment that would exist regardless of the Turkish factor. On the diplomatic front, Nedos does not expect any breakthrough with Ankara soon. With elections approaching in Greece and possibly Turkey as well, he called the prospect of meaningful bilateral talks "very distant." Turkey continues to press its "gray zones" doctrine, disputing Greek sovereignty over Aegean islands it claims were never formally ceded in 1923 or 1947. For now, Athens is focused on deterrence, and hoping Cong...