WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s administration is planning to push ahead with the sale of dozens of jet engines to Turkey worth hundreds of millions of dollars despite objections from the US Congress, four sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, a significant gesture to Ankara ahead of a NATO summit there next month.
The engines, produced by General Electric, will power Turkey’s first indigenous combat jet Kaan, a major project launched in 2016 as part of NATO member Ankara’s efforts to be more self-sufficient in its defense. One of the sources said the package will be worth more than $700 million.
Turkey and the United States have generally enjoyed warm ties under Trump, who regularly praises Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. However their relationship has been tested by a long-standing disagreement over Washington’s decision to remove Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program and impose sanctions after Ankara acquired Russian-made S-400 air defense systems, which the United States says pose a security threat.
Representative Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, had raised objections during the informal review process and has not given his green light for the package, two of the sources, including a US official, said.
