Turkey’s defense ministry on Thursday urged Washington to lift sanctions and restrictions on its defense industry as talks continued over the delivery of six F-35 fighter jets built for Turkey.
The ministry described the measures as “incompatible with the spirit of alliance” and called for the removal of sanctions imposed under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), along with all direct and indirect restrictions on Turkey’s defense industry.
Contacts with US officials concerning the six aircraft were continuing, the ministry confirmed in responses to questions at its weekly press briefing in Ankara.
“We expect the process to conclude positively in line with our alliance relations and mutual interests,” it said, without announcing a delivery date or an agreement on lifting the sanctions.
The statement follows pledges by US President Donald Trump to resolve the dispute, which has restricted defense cooperation between the two NATO allies since Turkey acquired Russia’s S-400 air defense system.
Trump vowed to lift the sanctions during the NATO summit in Ankara in July and indicated that he would consider allowing Turkey to buy F-35s.
Asked on October 2 why the sanctions had not been terminated, Trump again promised to make President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan happy but announced no decision or timetable.
Washington removed Turkey from the F-35 program in 2019 after Ankara took delivery of the S-400, a Russian surface-to-air missile system designed to target aircraft and missiles.
US officials argued that operating the Russian system alongside the F-35 could enable Russia to obtain information about the fighter’s stealth technology, which helps it evade radar detection.
The first Trump administration imposed CAATSA sanctions in December 2020 on Turkey’s Presidency of Defense Industry (SSB), the government agency responsible for defense procurement, and four of its officials.
The measures restricted US export licenses and financing for the agency and imposed asset freezes and visa restrictions on the officials.
Turkey had planned to purchase 100 F-35s and participated in manufacturing parts for the aircraft before its removal from the program. Ankara maintains that it paid about $1.4 billion into the project.
Restoring access to the jets also requires overcoming US legal restrictions tied to Turkey’s possession of the S-400, with the State Department telling Congress in July that Ankara had not yet met the conditions for receiving the aircraft.
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