Istanbul: President Recep Taip Erdogan has expressed confidence that Turkey will be read in the US F -35 program and will be sneaked fighter jet with US President Donald Trump to suit “an agreement”.
Washington excluded Turkey from its F -35 program in 2019 and banned Ankara on the purchase of missile defense system from a S -400 Russian surface a year later, but since Trump returns to office, both are keen to end the NATO collaborative disputes.
“I believe that Mr. Trump will be loyal to the agreement made by us. I think F-35 will be taken to Turkish step-by-step during his tenure,” Erdogan returned from Azerbaijan, saying, Anadolu State News Agency said on Saturday.
He did not give any further information about the agreement, but said the step was “part of the geo-economic revolution”.
“F -35 issue is not only a military technology issue for us, but also a strong partnership in international platforms like NATO,” he said.
The restrictions on Turkey’s defense sector have sour the relationship between the two colleagues, but at the end of the last week, Washington’s envoy Ankara Tom Barrack said they were likely to be “until the end of the year”.
Trump and Erdogan will “instruct their top diplomats to find out the way and end it and the Congress will support a wise solution”, he told Anadolu on Sunday.
In March, Erdogan spoke from Trump to Turkey’s need to finalize a deal to buy US F -16 fighter aircraft and was taught in the development program for F -35 warfare aircraft.
And last month, he said that he saw an end to see the restrictions, saying that Turkey had seen him comfortably under Trump.
