In an interview with TRT Haber, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated that Ankara continues to work on removing restrictions that hinder the development of military-technical cooperation with the US, including the CAATSA sanctions and the issue of returning the fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets to the country.
Speaking after the NATO summit in Ankara, Fidan noted that Turkey has never sought the imposition of sanctions among allies and has been fighting for their cancellation for a long time. "Declared and undeclared sanctions have been applied against us in European capitals and America for a long time. We systematically worked to eliminate them," said the Turkish Foreign Minister. According to him, some of the issues that could be settled by the decisions of the US administration have already ceased to be obstacles.
However, the CAATSA restrictions and the situation surrounding the F-35 are still tied up in legislative procedures. "As long as the leaders of both countries have the political will, our departments take the necessary steps to solve these problems. We hope to reach a result soon," Fidan said. Turkey was left out of the F-35 fighter jet production program after acquiring the Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems. At that time, Washington stated that the use of Russian anti-aircraft systems poses a threat to the security of the program.
Fidan also emphasized that the issue of defense cooperation with the USA was discussed during the contacts between Presidents Donald Trump and Recep Tayyip Erdogan within the framework of the NATO summit. According to him, the parties reaffirmed their intention to develop relations in the fields of defense, trade and regional security. Ankara hopes that the settlement of the CAATSA and F-35 issue will allow to restore full military-technical cooperation with Washington and expand the capabilities of the Turkish military industry.
