By Bosphorus News Defense Desk
France has become more open to a possible sale of the Franco-Italian SAMP/T air-defence system to Türkiye, Reuters reported on July 6, bringing one of Ankara's long-blocked European defence files into North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit week.
The report brings together Türkiye's air-defence gap, France's political hesitation, Italy's role in the Eurosam consortium and NATO's July 7 defence-industry agenda.
Reuters, citing five sources familiar with the matter, said France was open to a possible sale after years of political opposition. Four sources said the shift followed talks between French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at a June 25 summit before the NATO gathering in Türkiye.
The French presidency did not confirm the information and told Reuters there were "significant inaccuracies," without specifying which parts it disputed. French ministries declined to comment, while Türkiye's Foreign Ministry did not respond to Reuters requests.
A stalled European air-defence file
The SAMP/T file has moved several times before without producing a sale. Türkiye, France and Italy launched cooperation in 2017 and 2018 on long-range air and missile defence, but the process later stalled as relations between Paris and Ankara deteriorated over Syria, Libya and Eastern Mediterranean disputes involving Greece and the Republic of Cyprus.
Eurosam, the Franco-Italian consortium behind the system, said in 2017 that the three countries signed a Letter of Intent at NATO headquarters in Brussels. In January 2018, Eurosam said Türkiye had awarded Eurosam, Aselsan and Roketsan a definition study contract for a future Turkish long-range air and missile-defence system.
Reuters reported that a Turkish official said the process had been unable to move forward since 2020 because of Eastern Mediterranean tensions and European Union sanctions.
Paris becomes the new variable
The new element is Paris. Ankara's interest in SAMP/T is old, public and linked to its effort to build an integrated air and missile-defence network. Reuters' report says the political position in France, long viewed by Turkish officials as the main obstacle, may now be softening.
Reuters said Meloni and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan discussed the matter in a July 3 phone call. Türkiye's Directorate of Communications confirmed the call and said Erdoğan underlined the importance of strengthening Türkiye-Italy cooperation, especially in the defence industry, while voicing Türkiye's expectation that ties among allies would be strengthened during the NATO Leaders' Summit in Türkiye. The official Turkish readout did not mention SAMP/T.
NATO's Defence Industry Forum will take place in Ankara on July 7 as part of the summit. NATO says the forum will focus on turning the alliance's 5 percent defence-investment plan into production, cooperation and joint procurement, with integrated air and missile defence listed among the priority areas.
That places SAMP/T inside the summit's main defence-industry lane. Türkiye is hosting a summit built around allied production and burden-sharing while seeking removal of defence trade restrictions, access to allied systems and a larger role for its own defence industry. Bosphorus News reported ahead of the summit that Ankara would press the gap between its value to the alliance and the limits it faces inside allied defence markets.
From NATO deployment to procurement question
The operational record is already visible. Bosphorus News reported in June that NATO had deployed an Italian SAMP/T system to Konya under alliance defence planning, placing the same Franco-Italian system family on Turkish soil before the Ankara Summit. Reuters also reported that Italy sent the system to Türkiye in mid-June as part of NATO defence planning.
That deployment does not confirm a sale. It shows the same system family already operating in Türkiye under NATO planning while Ankara seeks deeper access to European air-defence technology.
The Greece-Cyprus layer
A future transaction would immediately touch Greece and the Republic of Cyprus. Reuters reported that France would need to reassure both over a potential sale, citing two sources. France has strategic defence arrangements with both, and Paris recently defended its Status of Forces Agreement with the Republic of Cyprus after Turkish criticism.
The likely system variant matters. Reuters reported that any deal would probably centre on SAMP/T NG, the new-generation version entering French and Italian service. That would make the discussion more than a platform purchase. It would touch technology sharing, joint production and the future structure of Türkiye's planned Steel Dome air and missile-defence architecture.
Reuters quoted a Turkish official as saying there appeared to be political will in Türkiye, Italy and France for the process to advance. The report also said the new French openness should not be read as approval for a sale.
Türkiye has not secured SAMP/T. France has not publicly removed its objections. But the file has moved from a stalled Franco-Italian-Turkish project into NATO's defence-industry week, where allied spending, air defence and market access are now part of the same summit bargain.
Sources: Reuters, NATO, Türkiye's Directorate of Communications, Eurosam, Bosphorus News review and reporting.