US President Donald Trump is set to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today at the White House, amid signals from Trump that Washington may soon lift its freeze on selling advanced fighter jets to Ankara, according to AP.
“We are working on many Trade and Military Deals with the President, including the large scale purchase of Boeing aircraft, a major F-16 Deal, and a continuation of the F-35 talks, which we expect to conclude positively,” Trump said in a social media post.
Today’s visit will mark Erdogan’s first trip to the White House since 2019.
Frequent Tensions
Despite the fact that both leaders maintained close personal bonds during Trump’s 2017-21 term as president, their relationship witnessed frequent tensions due to certain disputes over US support for Kurdish fighters in Syria and Turkey’s growing relations with Moscow.
In 2019, Ankara sparked a sharp backlash from the Trump administration by purchasing Russian S-400 missile systems.
As a result, Trump canceled a planned sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey and removed it from the joint production program.
Subsequently, Ankara secured a deal to purchase F-16 jets.
Then, US officials have expressed concern that Turkey’s use of Russia’s S-400 missile defense system could threaten the security of F-35 technology by collecting sensitive data that might be shared with Moscow.
Last week, Trump raised Ankara’s expectations by unveiling Erdogan’s upcoming visit, noting that they could reach a resolution to the fighter jet dispute.
In response, Erdogan said he is eager to see the removal of restrictions on F-35s.
Related Topics:
Trump to Address UN, Hold Talks with Mideast Leaders
Turkey Cuts off Economic Ties with Israel, Closes Airspace
Trump’s UK State Visit Kicks Off with Royal Welcome
