Turkey’s first choice is to be in the US F-35 fighter jet program, and its exclusion from the program due to CAATSA sanctions is an unfair and unlawful practice, the country’s presidential spokesperson said Thursday, according to the Anadolu Agency.
Speaking to reporters following the opening ceremony of a fine arts university, Ibrahim Kalin touched on the decisions reached at the recent G20 summit meeting between US President Joe Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Kalin said the two leaders agreed to put Turkish-American relations in the right strategic framework.
He reminded that Turkey had made a $1.4 billion payment for the F-35 program and said a bill is on the agenda in the US Congress to make an exception for India and Australia, which are now receiving the S-400.
He said if the problem with the F-35 program is not resolved, then “we do not have the luxury of wasting time.”
“We can try to compensate for this with F-16s. The American administration has shown a positive attitude towards this until now. They have a positive approach,” he said.
“If the issue here is to impose sanctions only on countries that unilaterally purchase heavy weapons from Russia, why are exceptions made to these countries? If there is no such rule, why are these sanctions being imposed on Turkey?” Kalin added.
“Our priority is to meet the needs of Turkey in the field of the defense industry in the most appropriate way,” he emphasized, adding that Turkey has alternatives in these areas, and the country is able to produce its own unmanned aerial vehicles and has taken important steps in the defense industry.
Read the full story on Azerbaycan24
