Published February 01,2024
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The U.S. on Wednesday held out the chance that Türkiye might return to the F-35 joint strike fighter program if an ongoing row might be resolved.
“There’s no change to our view that the F-35 program for Turkey is incompatible with their use of the (Russian) S-300 and S-400 missiles. So we’re still having those discussions, and should Turkey be able to resolve our concerns about that, then there could be a restoration of movement into the F-35 program,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby advised reporters on the White House.
“That’s where we are,” he added.
The U.S. suspended Türkiye from the F-35 fighter jet program in 2019 after objecting to its buy of the Russian S-400 air protection system, claiming Moscow’s system would endanger the fighter jets and is inoperable with NATO techniques.
Ankara has mentioned repeatedly that there isn’t any battle between the 2 and proposed a fee to check the difficulty. Türkiye additionally mentioned it fulfilled its obligations on the F-35s and that its suspension was unwarranted.
Kirby’s feedback mirror these made by Acting Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, who mentioned Monday whereas visiting Türkiye that Washington would “welcome Türkiye back into the F-35 family” if the S-400 row was resolved.
Source: www.anews.com.tr