Turkey is looking to secure the delivery of six F-35 jets from the US in an initial transaction, if President Donald Trump reverses a ban on Ankara buying the advanced fighter planes, according to Turkish officials familiar with the matter.
While that would be fewer than the 40-odd jets Turkey has pushed for, it would be a significant geopolitical boost for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and potentially upset other US allies in the Eastern Mediterranean such as Israel and Greece.
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Trump is in Ankara, Turkey’s capital, this week for a NATO summit and held a bilateral meeting on Tuesday with Erdogan, a leader he regularly says he admires. Trump indicated he is ready to lift defense-industry sanctions after years of lobbying from Turkey.
Turkey has already paid $1.4 billion for six F-35s, which have been kept in storage in the US. If the sanctions are lifted, Turkey could take delivery of them quickly, said the officials, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. They didn’t give an expected timeline.
