ANKARA, Dec 6: Four US-made F-35 fighter jets paid for by Turkey are sitting idle in a hangar at a US base in California, Turkish newspaper Yeni Akit reported on Saturday.
In late September, US President Donald Trump said that Washington might let Ankara buy F-35s if its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, “does something” for the US. The US ambassador to Turkey and the US president’s special representative for Syria, Thomas Barrack, have previously expressed hope that the fighter jet deal will be sorted out before the end of 2025.
The fighters have remained in the US since the exclusion of Turkey from the F-35 program, and the Pentagon has previously announced the possibility of selling them to third countries; however, it has not made any steps to implement this idea, the newspaper reported.
The costs of maintaining idle fighter jets are increasing annually, and the US covers these expenses out of its own budget, the newspaper reported, adding that Turkish officials regularly bring up the issue of Washington’s failing to fulfill its obligations to Ankara.
In 2017, Turkey signed a contract with Russia to buy S-400 air defense systems, which Turkey received in 2019. The United States demanded that Turkey abandon the Russian systems in favour of the US-made Patriot system, but Ankara declined. In retaliation, Washington excluded Turkey from its F-35 fighter jet supply program and imposed sanctions on defence industry leaders under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.
The US also cancelled its joint F-35 memorandum with Turkey, signing it with the seven remaining F-35 partners, namely the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, Denmark, Canada, and Norway.
(UNI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
