ATHENS – After buying a Russian S-400 missile defense system, Turkey is dismayed that Greece is buying French-made fighter jets and the United States will place troops in the northern city of Alexandroupoli, near Turkey’s border.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was annoyed over the prospects, with Greece also reaching an agreement to acquire French warships without declaring it was a deal aimed at Turkey’s provocations.

Speaking to reporters on his return from the G20 summit in Rome, where he met with US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, Erdogan said “we raised the issue to both Biden and Macron.”.

“We said ‘what is the issue with Alexandroupoli? Establishing a base there bothers us and our people,’” also upset that Greece is buying the French-made Rafale fighter jets, at the same time Turkey has been shut out of buying US-made F-35 fighter jets because of its acquisition of the Russian missile defenses.

“We discussed (with Macron) the issue of arms sales to Greece. We shared our concern about this issue, because we do not have a hidden agenda,” Erdogan said. “He told me that ‘They have money,’ to which I answered: ‘They are deceiving you, as I know they have no money; they owe 400 billion euros to the West alone,’” the Turkish President said, referring to three international bailouts of 326 billion euros ($436.14 billion.)