President Donald Trump announced in Ankara on Tuesday that the United States would lift the sanctions imposed on Turkey in 2020 after Ankara acquired the Russian S-400 air defence system.
“We are going to be taking the sanctions off," Trump said while appearing alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Bestepe Presidential Compound during the NATO summit.
Asked separately whether Turkey would be allowed to purchase American F-35 stealth fighters, Trump declined to offer a definitive answer. “It’s a decision we’re going to make," he said, describing the aircraft as the best plane by far.
A day earlier, The New York Times, citing four senior administration officials, reported that Trump was expected to inform Erdogan of his willingness to allow Turkey to rejoin the F-35 programme.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, voiced his opposition during an interview with CNN journalist Dana Bash on Tuesday, saying he had personally urged Trump not to proceed with the sale because it would alter the regional military balance. Selling the aircraft, he argued, “doesn’t make Turkey a friendly state to the United States."
Netanyahu also took aim at Erdogan’s administration, saying it was influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood. His remarks came against the backdrop of worsening ties between Turkey and Israel. The previous week, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told CNN Turk that Israel had become intolerable to the broader international community, comments that prompted a sharp response from Israel’s foreign ministry.
Turkey was originally a founding industrial partner in the F-35 programme, with its manufacturers producing an estimated 900 components for the aircraft. Ankara had also intended to acquire about 100 F-35A jets.
That partnership came to an end in July 2019 after Turkey accepted delivery of the Russian S-400 missile system, leading Washington to remove Ankara from the programme. The United States later imposed sanctions in December 2020 under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) against Turkey’s Presidency of Defence Industries, the government agency overseeing defence procurement. The measures included export licence restrictions and financial penalties.
The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) is a United States federal law that imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea, and Russia. It accomplishes this goal by preventing U.S. companies from doing business with sanctioned entities, or with countries that engage in business with sanctioned entities.
The move comes as Trump praised Ankara’s contribution to easing tensions involving Iran, saying Turkey had been more helpful on the issue than other NATO allies and describing the country as an “extraordinary ally”.
The administration has already demonstrated its readiness to move ahead with Turkish defence cooperation despite congressional objections. In late June, it notified Congress of a $700 million engine sale for Turkey’s indigenous KAAN fighter programme, overriding a hold imposed by Democratic Representative Gregory Meeks.
Any effort to return Turkey to the F-35 programme, however, faces a legal hurdle under the 2020 National Defence Authorization Act, which prohibits the transfer of the aircraft unless Turkey no longer possesses the S-400 system or associated equipment.
Lawmakers drafted the provision without including a presidential waiver, preventing Trump from reversing it through executive action alone. Erdogan told reporters he was hopeful of a “favourable decision," noting that Turkey had originally been promised five aircraft under the initial agreement.
Opinion on Capitol Hill remains divided. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told Turkiye Today he was receptive to the proposal, while Senator Mike Rounds, who was visiting Ankara as part of a congressional delegation, told CNN that settling the S-400 issue would be “good news for NATO."
Even before the NATO summit opened, a bipartisan group of lawmakers had written to Trump urging him not to approve any F-35 sale to Turkey. Republican Senator John Cornyn also rejected the proposal with a brief, unequivocal response when questioned. No official decision has yet been announced on the fighter jets, and the removal of sanctions has not been formally codified or published in the Federal Register.
Also Read | Watch I US bombs India-backed Chabahar port in Iran
Also Read | US Official Says Iran Truce Has 'At Least Temporarily Ceased' Amid Fresh Strikes: Report
