US President says he may make Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ‘very happy’ as Washington reviews Ankara’s eligibility for the advanced fighter jet programme…reports Asian Lite News Desk
US President Donald Trump has indicated that progress could soon be made on Turkey’s long standing bid to acquire F 35 fighter aircraft, while praising Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as “a friend” and an important NATO ally.
Speaking alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House on Wednesday, Trump suggested that Washington could move forward on Turkey’s request for F 35 fighter jets and F 110 jet engines, saying he was likely to take a step that would “make him very happy”.
Asked whether he would arrive at next month’s NATO summit in Ankara with approval for Turkey’s requests, Trump replied: “Yeah, I think so.”
“He’s a member of NATO. Some people don’t consider him so, but he really is. He’s a strong member of NATO. Yeah, I’m going to probably do something that’s going to make him very happy,” Trump said.
Vice President J.D. Vance said the administration was reviewing whether Turkey had fulfilled all legal requirements necessary to move ahead with the F 35 programme.
“We’re running the traps and confirming that’s happened. This is really a congressional thing, and ensuring that Turkey has complied with American law so they can get the F 35s,” Vance said, adding that an announcement would be made once the review was complete.
During the interaction, Trump repeatedly praised Erdogan’s leadership and his decision to stay out of the recent conflict involving Iran.
“He’s a friend of mine, and he stayed out of the war,” Trump said.
The US President said he had personally urged Erdogan not to become involved in the conflict despite Turkey’s differences with Israel.
“He was a prime candidate to go into the war with Iran, maybe on the Iran side, because he’s not a big fan of Israel, as you know. And I asked him to stay out, he stayed out,” Trump said.
He added that he had also made similar requests to other world leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Trump described Erdogan as a respected leader who had been helpful to Washington on several occasions.
“A lot of times when they have a problem with Erdogan, they call me, and they say, ‘Would you talk to him?'” Trump said.
He also suggested that Erdogan’s role as host of next month’s NATO summit influenced his decision to attend.
“If not for the fact that it was being held in Turkey by President Erdogan, I don’t think I would have gone to it,” Trump said.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also praised Turkey’s role within the alliance, highlighting its large defence industrial base and contributions to NATO.
“Turkey has a huge defence industrial base, 3,000 companies working all over the alliance, also here in the United States,” Rutte said.
Trump noted that Turkey already operates a substantial amount of American military equipment and described it as possessing “a very strong military”.
The NATO summit, scheduled to be held in Ankara on July 7 and 8, is expected to focus on implementing the alliance’s new defence spending commitments, expanding defence industrial production and coordinating continued support for Ukraine.
