Turkey to press allies for access to EU defence funds

Turkey will press European allies which plan to sharply ramp up their defence spending to ease restrictions that now require most of that money to be spent in the EU, Defence Minister Yasar Guler told Reuters on Wednesday ahead of a NATO meeting.

In written answers to questions from Reuters, Guler also said Turkey hopes a potential meeting between Donald Trump and Tayyip Erdogan will finally yield progress in lifting U.S. sanctions that expelled Turkey from the F-35 jet programme.

Guler said Turkey, which has the second biggest army in NATO after the United States, has advanced capabilities in areas such as drones, which would be valuable to its allies as they plan major new spending on defence.

"Allies need to spend not only more, but also smarter – and there is a need for more cooperation than ever before," Guler said when asked about Trump's call on the alliance to ramp up defence spending to target 5% of output.

Many European nations have announced plans for major increases in defence spending. The EU itself, driven by fears of a Russian attack and doubts about U.S. security commitments, has approved creating a 150 billion-euro ($170 billion) EU arms fund to boost the defence industry, labelled the SAFE scheme.

But it mandates that 65% of projects are funded by firms in the bloc, the broader European Economic Area, or Ukraine.

Guler said such restrictions would exclude non-EU countries like Turkey from Europe's defence and security architecture, which he said was "an issue that cannot be discussed only within the EU".

Turkey wants to "build the security of the future together" with the EU, and would continue to work with "open-minded and visionary European allies within or outside SAFE," he said, specifically listing drones, air defences, naval systems, armoured vehicles and land platforms, electronic warfare and radar systems, ammunition and rocket systems.

Greece, Turkey's longstanding adversary, has demanded Ankara lift a lift a 30-year old war threat over territorial waters to be permitted to access EU defence funds. Guler said such demands were a mistake, amounting to "involving multilateral platforms in bilateral disputes".

Ankara's defence cooperation with its NATO allies has been hampered in recent years by U.S. sanctions imposed over a Turkish decision to buy Russian S-400 air defence systems, which resulted in Turkey's expulsion from the U.S.-led F-35 programme as both a buyer and manufacturer of the advanced jets.

Erdogan has expressed confidence that Trump, with whom he has good personal ties, will find a solution that relieves Turkey's defence industry of the sanctions.

A potential meeting between Erdogan and Trump, and the close ties between them, can "breathe new life" into bilateral defence ties and help lift the sanctions, Guler said. Although Ankara would not give up the S-400s, lifting the sanctions would let it consider returning to the F-35 project, he said.

($1 = 0.8792 euros)