Erdoğan signals concrete steps on F-35s
President of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at Türkiye House in New York, where he was attending the United Nations General Assembly meetings, that Donald Trump had shown positive intent regarding Türkiye’s return to the F-35 program.
Erdoğan said they were waiting for U.S. President Trump’s approach to Türkiye’s rejoining the F-35 fighter jet production and development program to turn into concrete steps. “We are now waiting for this intent to turn into concrete steps,” Erdoğan said, adding that he believed a positive outcome would be achieved.
Erdoğan said he had previously discussed the F-35 issue with Trump at a NATO summit held in Ankara and added that contacts with the U.S. side were continuing.
Assessment of the Türkiye-U.S. partnership
Erdoğan said the cooperation and communication channels established with Trump had given significant momentum to Türkiye-U.S. relations. He added that the partnership and cooperation between the two countries had made significant progress compared with the previous U.S. administration.
Erdoğan said the relationship would not remain at its current level and expressed the view that Türkiye and the United States would achieve more ambitious goals.
Priority for the domestic defense industry
Erdoğan said Türkiye attached great importance to developing and strengthening its domestic defense industry and that the country aimed to produce its own fighter jet.
Erdoğan said the key elements of this goal included the Kaan fighter jet, air defense systems and independent defense capabilities.
Joint efforts to procure Eurofighter jets
Referring to his meeting with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Erdoğan said joint steps and efforts toward Türkiye’s purchase of Eurofighter fighter jets were continuing.
Erdoğan emphasized that Türkiye had security and defense needs as well as strategic goals, and said they would continue working toward those goals without taking a step back.
