Turkey will start talks on F-35 fighter jets with the United States on late January or early next month, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Sunday.
A Turkish delegation will visit Washington in the coming days to discuss the jets, Akar told columnist Tunca Bengin for Milliyet newspaper, during his visit to southeastern Şırnak on the weekend.
Turkey’s purchase of a first batch of Russian S-400 missiles in 2019 prompted the Pentagon to suspend it from a programme to develop and purchase F-35 stealth fighter jets. The expulsion was finalised on Sept. 23.
“If Turkey is strong, NATO will be strong. Turkey’s strength is the added value of NATO’s strength. What will happen if you block Turkey’s power with embargoes,” Akar said.
In October, the United States and Turkey entered dispute resolution talks following Ankara’s expulsion from the F-35 programme. Senior defence officials met in Ankara for a first round of negotiations. The United States is seeking to respectfully conclude NATO member Turkey’s prior involvement in the programme after its removal was finalised on Sept. 23, the Pentagon said.
Discussions were productive, and the delegations plan to meet again in the coming months in Washington, D.C., it said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says his government is owed $1.4 billionthat it paid into the programme to develop and purchase F-35s. In September, he said that Washington had proposed selling Turkey F-16s to offset its $1.4 billion investment in the F-35s. In response, the United States said that it did not make an offer to Ankara for financing the purchase of F-16 fighter jets.
“We asked how we would settle for the F-35s. They said they understood,” Akar said on Sunday.
The fate of six F-35s produced for Turkey which are waiting in a hangar is also being discussed, he added.
“The discussions between delegations continue on both F-16s and F-35s,” he said.
Ahval