United States President Donald Trump has said he will lift sanctions on Turkey and will soon decide on resuming sales of F-35 fighter jets. The statement came on Tuesday as Trump met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of a NATO leaders' summit in Ankara.
The pivot comes after the US booted Turkey from the F-35 programme after Ankara acquired Russian S-400 air defence systems in 2019. Washington also imposed sanctions under the so-called Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). "We're going to be taking the sanctions off," Trump told reporters.
Sitting next to Erdogan, Trump said he would soon make a determination on the sale of US F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. "That's a decision we're going to make… it's a great plane, the best plane by far and it's certainly something we will consider," Trump said.
Any move to return Turkey to the F-35 programme would need to overcome a 2020 law requiring a presidential administration to determine Ankara no longer possesses or operates the Russian systems. The CAATSA sanctions, meanwhile, specifically targeted Turkey's Presidency of Defence Industries and included US export license bans as well as financial and banking restrictions.
Erdogan, for his part, told reporters he hoped for a "favourable decision" on the F-35s, adding that Turkey had previously been promised five jets. Trump's meeting with Erdogan comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has increasingly pressured the US not to resume F-35 sales to Turkey.
Speaking on Monday to Fox News, Netanyahu said the sale of F-35s to Turkey would "upset the power balance in the Middle East, which is ultimately guaranteed by Israeli air superiority, and also by, I think, by America's posture in the Middle East". This comes as the Trump administration has chafed with close ally Israel, as Israel's ongoing military campaign in Lebanon has repeatedly threatened to derail a preliminary ceasefire agreement to end the US-Israel war on Iran.
Relations between Turkey and Israel have tanked in recent years, despite the two countries increasing trade ties ahead of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza. Turkey has been an outspoken critic of the Israeli military operation in the Palestinian enclave. It remains to be seen how a reversal on selling F-35s to Turkey would be received by US lawmakers.
But speaking to Turkiye Today on Tuesday, Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch supporter of Israel, said he was open to the prospect. "There might be some pushback in Congress, but a solution might be found," he said.
Source: www.aljazeera.com