Fighter jet engines for Turkey: Netanyahu warns Trump about fighter jet deal with Erdoğan
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned US President Donald Trump about a planned arms deal with the Türkiye warned. Netanyahu told US broadcaster Fox News that Turkey should not receive F-35 fighter jets or fighter jet engines from the USA. This would “disrupt the balance of power in the Middle East.” So far, Israel and the US military have guaranteed this balance, he said.
The US President had said about the arms deal that it would probably make Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan “very happy.” Experts expect that Trump Erdoğan promised around 40 F110 fighter jet engines on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara. The top meeting will take place this Tuesday and Wednesday.
Turkey wants to use the US engines for its own KAAN stealth aircraft. They are intended to replace the Turkish Air Force’s aging F16 fleet. Turkey wants to join the club of countries that produce fifth-generation fighter jets, especially the USAChina and Russia. This refers to state-of-the-art fighter jets that are invisible to radars and have extremely powerful sensors.
US Democrats criticize arms deal
According to information from the US Congress, the engine business is worth more than 700 million US dollars (around 610 million euros). There is criticism of the deal from the opposition Democrats: Trump “overlooked” Congress when making the decision and merely informed Parliament, criticized Foreign Affairs Committee member Gregory Meeks.
Erdogan had also expressed the desire for F-35 aircraft several times. However, this would require the approval of the US Congress. The United States imposed sanctions on Turkey at the end of 2020 after the NATO partner acquired S-400 missile defense systems from Russia.
In order for Congress to lift these sanctions, the government in Ankara would have to get rid of the S-400 system according to the current legal situation. But a sale to a third country would require the approval of the government in Moscow and a return to Russia is not up for debate. “Changing the congressional decision will not be easy,” says Mustafa Aydin, an expert in international relations at Istanbul’s Kadir Has University.
Trump promised Erdoğan that sanctions would be lifted
F-35 fighter jets are among the most modern in the world. The jet was originally developed by the USA in cooperation with Turkey and other NATO countries. However, the US excluded Turkey from the program in 2019 following the missile defense deal with Russia.
Trump has since improved relations with Erdoğan; the US President received the Turkish head of state in Washington in September and said that US sanctions against Turkey could be lifted “almost immediately”. Former US diplomat and senior official in the White House, Matthew Bryza, expects Trump to now declare the dispute over the F-35 over and to promise Turkey the fighter jets.
In order to sell the F-35, the corresponding US sanctions laws would then have to be changed. “Whether (Trump) can get Congress to do this depends on how much political capital he is willing to invest,” Bryza said. This could be “politically costly” ahead of the congressional elections in early November, he said, referring to the large community of Greek and Armenian origin in the United States that is hostile to Turkey.