Turkey expects to return the money paid for the purchase of American F-35 fighter jets, said Minister of National Defense Yasar Guler.
⠀Turkey is ready to discuss with the United States a return to the F-35 fighter program; Ankara considers exclusion from it unfounded, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said earlier.
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“I think we will be able to return the money we paid for the F-35, negotiations are ongoing,” the minister said.
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In 2017, Turkey entered into a contract with Russia for the supply of the S-400 regimental kit, which it received in the summer-autumn of 2019. At the same time, the United States demanded that Russian systems be abandoned in favor of Patriot, but Ankara did not agree to this. As punishment, Washington excluded Turkey from the program to supply the latest F-35 fighter jets and imposed sanctions against leaders of the defense industry under the CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions) Act. The United States canceled the joint F-35 memorandum with Turkey, signing it with the seven remaining partners on the F-35 project – the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, Denmark, Canada and Norway.
