Berlin once again denied Athens' request to freeze the sale of six German-made submarines to Turkey. 

According to Proto Thema, citing sources, in a phone talk of Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos and his German counterpart Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the seriousness of Germany's actions was discussed. Panagiotopoulos asked Berlin to suspend the production of six submarines. He argued that they would be used by Turkey for expansionist policies in the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean.

The German Defense Minister noted that the program for the production and sale of submarines to Turkey cannot be stopped or even postponed because the manufacturer Thyssen is bound by deals signed in 2002.

The refusal of the Merkel government to even postpone the delivery of submarines to Turkey shows Berlin's attitude towards Athens and Ankara.

Panagiotopoulos's talks with Kramp-Karrenbauer were initiated by the German defense minister in preparation for talks she will hold next week with her Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar.

According to sources, the German minister asked for the position of Greece on issues raised by the Turks on a number of issues related to the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Greek minister briefed his German counterpart in detail on Greece's position on security and stability in the region as a whole. Referring to the dialogue with Turkey, Panagiotopoulos noted that it concerns exclusively the issue of delimiting the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone on the basis of international law.