Spain Strengthens Military Partnership With Turkey After Israel Veto
Spain has established Turkey as its new preferred defense partner by signing fresh military agreements, following the Spanish government's decision to halt dealings with Israel. On Friday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul, where they discussed enhanced cooperation on security and defense matters.
Turkey's official statement on social media highlighted Erdogan’s remarks about efforts to boost trade between the two nations, especially focusing on defense industry and transportation collaboration.
This meeting follows a recent agreement to cooperate on an advanced combat pilot training program, which will replace Spain’s current F-5M training aircraft with Turkey’s modern Hürjet jets. The deal was finalized during the FEINDEF international defense fair held in Madrid from May 12 to 14, where Spain’s Defense Minister Margarita Robles was seen inspecting a Hürjet aircraft alongside Turkish manufacturers.
Turkish news agency Anatolia reported that the agreement also includes plans to co-produce the Hürjet aircraft infrastructure in Spain.
These military investments come amid NATO’s push for members to increase defense spending to around 3–4% of GDP, although Minister Robles tempered expectations by stating Spain’s goal remains at 2% of GDP.
During their talks, Sánchez and Erdogan also addressed the Middle East conflict between Hamas and Israel. Sánchez reiterated his support for a two-state solution, while Erdogan emphasized Turkey’s priority on delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza.
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