Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he made progress in the F-35 combat revolutions in talks with US President Donald Trump during the NATO summit.
Newsweek The US Department of Defense and the Turkish Foreign Ministry contacted to comment.
Why do it matter
Türkiye’s delivery of F -35 has been stopped since 2019 after Ankara acquired the Russian S -400 air defense system.
Erdogan has planted close relations with Trump, however one of the most vocal critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a major American ally in the Middle East. If Türkiye captures F-35s, it will bring them closer to equal with the air force that conducted the last air campaign against Iran.
Ankara also increased efforts to develop an independent defense industry, with the aim of reducing dependence on foreign weapons suppliers amid constant restrictions from Western allies.
Jerry Hiite/US Air Force/DVIDS
What do you know
“We discussed the F-35 case (a fighter plane). We have made payments from $ 1.3 to $ 1.4 billion for F-35s, and we saw that Mr. Trump was good in delivering it,” Erdogan told a press conference in The Hague. Anadolu Agency.
American officials had previously said that the presence of a platform for Russian intelligence gathering along with the F-35 ghost technology is unacceptable.
“He undermines an agreement that NATO concluded several years ago, to start stripping Russian equipment. He is moving in the wrong direction.” But Trump called the ban “not fair”, deposit financial losses, according to Reuters.
Türkiye began receiving the S-400 equipment in July 2019, in a $ 2.5 billion deal. The United States removed Türkiye from the F-35 Coint Strike Fighter, as a result.
“It is not fair to remove Turkey, the main partner, from the F-35 program and also the claim that the S-400 system would put the F-35s to be baseless F-35S,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry replied in a statement.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, another major American partner in the region, is looking forward to F-35s. Israel exclusively has combat aircraft and deployed them in its recent strikes on Iran.
What people say
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as it was reported before Anadolu Agency: “Our teams continue to work on maintenance and update F-16S as well as on the purchases related to the F-35s.”
The Jewish Institute of National Security of America (Ginsa) Tank Thought in April: “Regardless of whether Turkey is getting the F-35, we also recommend that Congress consider at least advanced American arms sales in Turkey to meet the level of non-negative impact on the qualitative military edge of Israel (QME).”
What happens after that
President Trump and the administration have not confirmed after Erdogan’s announcement and more details related to the deal.
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2025-06-26 10:37:00
