Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Turkey hopes to achieve results soon on the lifting of US sanctions and the purchase of F-35 fighter jets. Fidan stressed that there should be no defense industry restrictions among allies.
US President Donald Trump announced during his visit to Turkey for the NATO Summit held in Ankara this week that he would lift the sanctions imposed on Turkey over the Russian S-400 air defense systems.
In an interview with TRT Haber, Fidan stated that there is political will in both Ankara and Washington to lift the sanctions, and that the relevant ministers are working to resolve the issue.
Washington imposed CAATSA sanctions on Turkey in 2020 over its purchase of the S-400s and removed Ankara from the F-35 program. The US Congress passed a law requiring Turkey to divest itself of the S-400s in order to return to the F-35 program.
Fidan said that two issues subject to US legislation need to be resolved in Turkey-US relations. "CAATSA is one of them. The F-35 jets issue is the other... Hopefully we will reach a conclusion soon; I mean, I don't think there will be a problem on this," he said.
Two sources speaking to Reuters had reported that Trump was expected to support the F-35 sale during his Ankara visit. Trump, however, said he had "not yet fully decided" on the matter.
Meanwhile, the Hürriyet newspaper wrote that Turkey could announce on Friday that it will resell the S-400s to one of the Gulf countries in order to convince the US to sell F-35s. Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, when asked about the issue, said Moscow is in contact with Ankara on this matter, which he described as "extremely sensitive."
