Turkey’s Erdogan says talks underneath method with US to purchase F-16s – Occasions of India

An F-16 plane of the Turkish Air Drive (Reuters file picture)

ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday stated his nation was in talks with the USA to purchase F-16 fighters after it was kicked off the F-35 programme for buying a Russian missile defence system.
Washington excluded Ankara from NATO’s F-35 stealth fighter jet programme in 2019 after Turkey bought Russian S-400 defence air methods in defiance of warnings from its Western allies.
The acquisition has imperilled Turkish-US relations and blocked Turkey’s plans to buy about 100 of the F-35 fighters.
Turkey is now searching for compensation for its ouster from the US-led programme, together with for a $1.4 billion fee it had made earlier than its elimination.
Turkey’s buy of F-16 jets from America is “after all linked to the F-35s challenge”, Erdogan instructed reporters at an Istanbul airport earlier than embarking on an Africa tour.
He stated the US had provided Turkey in return to promote F-16s to improve its air power fleet.
“Now we have stated we’ll take no matter step is required to satisfy our nation’s defence wants,” Erdogan stated, including that Turkey was working to modernise its warplane fleet.
Any such sale by the Individuals nevertheless would should be permitted by Congress — the place anti-Turkey sentiments are on the rise.
Final month, Erdogan stated Turkey nonetheless deliberate to purchase a second batch of S-400 missile defence methods from Russia.
The US warned Turkey of additional dangers to bilateral ties if it purchased extra weapons from Russia.
Erdogan on Sunday stated Washington wanted to compensate Turkey for its $1.4 billion fee.
“We raised this challenge in our talks. We connect significance to dialogue for an answer to this drawback,” he stated.
“We’re working to additional develop our fleet from the modernisation of the F-16s in our possession to new further F-16 purchases,” the Turkish chief stated.