The leader of Greece’s main opposition party, Alexis Tsipras, criticized Athens’ arms programs for not contributing to the country’s defense industry, highlighting Türkiye’s progress in the national defense industry.

At ERT's live broadcast on Thursday, the state-owned public radio and television broadcaster of Greece, leaders of parties with parliamentary groups in the Greek Parliament discussed various issues including defense.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek prime minister and chairperson of the ruling Nea Dimoktratia (ND) party, claimed that the government implemented arms programs that would strengthen the Greek Armed Forces during its four-year term.

However, Tsipras, Prime Minister of Greece from 2015 to 2019, criticized the ND government’s arms program of about 15 billion euros ($16.3 billion), stating that it did not contribute to the Greek defense industry.

Tsipras said that if the Coalition of the Radical Left-Progressive Alliance, commonly known as "SYRIZA," comes to power, they will implement the agreements signed by the ND government for arms procurement. They will still demand contributions to the Greek defense industry within the scope of these agreements.

"It cannot be acceptable that Türkiye’s 60% of (arms procurement) programs are in their own national industry while we do not even contribute a single bolt to the Greek defense industry," he stated.

Türkiye has made significant strides in its national defense industry in recent years, developing and producing a range of advanced weaponry, including drones, missiles, and armored vehicles.

These efforts have not gone unnoticed by other countries, many of whom view Türkiye’s successes in defense as a sign of its growing military and geopolitical clout.

Greece, a disputed neighbor, is among other countries closely following Türkiye’s success in defense. That has been driven partly by its decision to pursue a more independent path in this area, reducing its reliance on foreign suppliers and focusing instead on developing domestic capabilities.