US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to Athens has dominated Turkish coverage in recent hours. Ankara is watching the talks closely and reading them as an attempt by Greece to secure air and naval superiority in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, with Turkey as the sole intended audience.
Turkish media describe a broad and expensive Greek armament program: F-35s, Rafale fighters, Belharra frigates, and the Israeli air-defense system known as the Achilles Shield.
In the talks with Rubio, arms packages worth about €1 billion are said to be on the table. Greek defense commitments to the United States already exceed €6 billion, and could pass €9 billion if Athens exercises an option for 20 additional F-35s.
France is treated as equally central. Greek deals for four Belharra frigates and 24 Rafales are put at more than €7 billion. Cooperation with Israel is described as accelerating: the Achilles Shield program, valued at €5.7 billion, is expected to be fully operational within 36 months.
Yeni Şafak and the power cable
The pro-government daily Yeni Şafak says Greek-Turkish relations face a fresh test over a proposed undersea electricity cable linking Greece, Cyprus, and Israel.
The paper argues the route would cross the Turkish continental shelf created by the Turkey-Libya maritime deal, so the parties would need Ankara’s permission — or, in softer language, coordination with Turkey. Athens does not want to ask, the paper says, because a request could be read as acceptance of that deal.
Reviving the project, Yeni Şafak adds, leaves the Greek government in a difficult spot ahead of elections. It can push ahead and risk a clash with Turkey, possibly forcing a retreat; it can proceed on terms Turkey can accept; or it can seek a middle formula that amounts to indirect Turkish approval.
In every scenario, the paper concludes, the government is likely to face domestic political trouble.
Aydınlık: fighters, bases, and the Vertical Corridor
The hard-nationalist paper Aydınlık casts the Rubio visit as part of a wider design that ties arms purchases, military bases, and energy projects into a US-Greek approach aimed at Turkey. F-35s, the Vertical Energy Corridor, and US weapons meant to strengthen Greece are presented as one idea.
The paper singles out tension over the Greece-Cyprus electricity cable in the Aegean. The Vertical Corridor, which would move American LNG from Alexandroupolis toward the Balkans and Central Europe, could, it argues, cut into Turkey’s energy weight in the region.
Aydınlık also notes the presence of US economic officials in Rubio’s delegation and treats that as a shift from diplomacy to financing. On F-35s and bases, and on LNG and energy routes, the paper says Washington and Athens are now working closely — and against Turkey.
What Turkish analysts are saying
Analysts such as Professor Sezgin Erkan argue that Greece is not stopping at defense.
“What we are seeing is essentially an attempt to build multi-layered defensive and offensive power,” he said, adding that the F-35’s low observability could make it the spearhead.
CNN Türk, covering the visit, put the bill Athens is being asked to pay the United States for arms programs at more than €6 billion, with the F-35 as the largest item: 20 jets, with deliveries expected to begin in 2029. Athens also holds an option for 20 more. It has not activated that option because of cost; if it does, the total paid to the United States would exceed €9 billion.
France is described as the second major supplier, with programs above €7 billion built around the four Belharra frigates and 24 Rafales. Israel is presented as closing the gap.
The Achilles Shield air-defense plan has been approved, installation is due to start, and the systems are expected to be in service within 36 months, at a cost to Israel of €5.7 billion.
CNN Türk’s conclusion matches the wider Turkish framing: the message is aimed at Turkey, and Athens is trying to strengthen its position and secure superiority in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Özgür Özel’s line
On Turkey’s own political stage, the opposition has been attacking President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Middle East policy and accusing the government of bending to American direction. CHP leader Özgür Özel condemned a military opening toward Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and said Ankara was being drawn into dangerous wars.
On the Saudi crown prince, he was blunt: the prince had Jamal Khashoggi murdered in Istanbul — “they crushed him and carried his bones in suitcases.” Erdoğan, Özel said, once called him a murderer and vowed he would not get away.
Özel added that Turkish leaders backed down as soon as the United States asked for a compromise, and that Ankara is now set to be drawn in, alongside Saudi Arabia, to the war in Yemen, with senior officials sent to arrange a troop deployment.
READ MORE: Rubio in Athens: Greek Influence “Literally Carved” Into America.
