Arms purchases to counter Turkey behind Greece’s financial demise

According to experts, the country’s major spending on arms purchases between 1980 and 2000 in an attempt to outdo Turkey played a major role in the dire straits the country fell into as the global financial crisis settled in.

Sources in Europe also say Greece misled the European Union on its military spending. Experts say that in 2000, Greece said its military expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) was 0.7; however, the real figure was 4.34. Greece, the country with the highest military expenditure to GDP ratio in Europe, has in a sense become a victim of its arms race with Turkey.

In 2000, Turkey had $16.4 billion in military expenditure, while that figures was $8.7 billion for Greece in the same year. In 2003, Turkey’s military spending stood at $13.4 billion, compared to $8.5 million in Greece. Per capita defense spending in Turkey was around $164 on average in the 2000s, while this number never went below $709 in Greece.

In 2002, the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) came to power and changed Turkey’s perception of foreign threats, removing Greece from the list of potential foreign threats. However, Greece continued to view Turkey as a primary foreign threat. Turkey’s military spending gradually declined and fell to $11.6 billion in 2008, while Greece’s military spending consistently increased, reaching $9.7 billion in the same year.

Greece, the EU’s highest military spender between 2000 and 2005, finally realized the cost of military purchases to its economy and decided to curb its military spending.

National Movement Party (MHP) deputy from Adana Kürşat Atılgan, a retired general, shared his opinion on the issue with Today’s Zaman, saying: “Greece has a very small national economy when compared to that of Turkey. However, the ratio of its military spending was equal to that of Turkey. It got into an arms race with Turkey, perceiving this country as a major foreign threat. If you see such a huge country as a foreign threat, you’ll have to buy as much military equipment as it does. This arms race is one of the main reasons behind Greece’s bankruptcy. The EU will most probably save Greece this time, but if it continues to see Turkey as a major threat, it is in for major financial trouble.”

SIPRI numbers on arms purchases

According to a report released in 2009 by the Stockholm International Peace and Research Institute (SIPRI), Greece ranked fifth on a list of the biggest arms purchasers. According to the same report, the Greek Cypriot administration’s arms purchases exceeded that of many countries in the Middle East.

Defense spending in 2007 topped $1.3 billion. According to the report, China spent most on arms purchases, followed by India, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea and Greece. Greece bought 4 percent of all arms sold in the world in the past five years. Greece buys 31 percent of its arms from Germany, 24 percent from the US, 24 percent from France and 21 percent from other countries.

Despite being a country that has increased its military spending more than any other, China’s military expenditure as a percentage of GDP was only 1.96 in 2008. Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and Greece boast some of the highest military expenditure to GDP figures.