- Erdogan says he is confident Turkey will return to the F-35 program and expects Washington to take concrete steps.
- Trump told reporters he showed positive willingness to let Turkey rejoin the F-35 program at the UN and NATO discussions.
- The dispute started after Ankara bought a Russian S-400 system in 2017, prompting Turkey's 2019 expulsion and 2020 US sanctions.
- Talks continue as Ankara hopes a resolved dispute will restore defense cooperation and ease soured bilateral ties.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed confidence Thursday that Ankara would regain access to the US F-35 fighter jet programme, saying he expected “concrete” steps from Washington to that end.
US President Donald Trump “expressed a positive willingness regarding Turkiye’s return to the F-35 programme,” he told reporters before boarding the plane to return from the UN General Assembly in New York.
“We expect this willingness to now translate into concrete steps,” he added.
“We are continuing our discussions on this matter. I am confident we will achieve results.”
Turkiye has long sought to resolve the long-running F-35 dispute with Washington and the Trump administration has also shown willingness to draw a line under the matter.
At the NATO summit in Ankara in early July, Trump said he was considering letting Turkiye back into the programme.
“It’s a decision we’re going to make,” the US leader said, raising Turkish hopes the matter would soon be resolved.
The dispute began in 2017 when Ankara acquired a Russian S-400 missile-defence system.
But the move infuriated Washington, which expelled Turkey from its F-35 programme in 2019 and then imposed further sanctions a year later, hampering Turkish defence projects and souring ties.
