US ambassador to Ankara says Trump is moving closer to resolving Turkey’s F-35 ban

ISTANBUL AP The close relationship between U S President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has brought the countries closer to resolving issues that led to Turkey being kicked off the F- fighter jet campaign the United States ambassador to Ankara announced Wednesday The positive relationship between President Trump and President Erdogan has created a new atmosphere of cooperation which has led to the most of fruitful conversations we have had on this topic in nearly a decade Ambassador Tom Barrack wrote in a social media post During Trump s first term the U S removed NATO ally Turkey from the next-generation fighter project after Turkey purchased an air defense system from Russia U S executives worried that Turkey s use of Russia s S- missile system could be used to gather information on the capabilities of the F- and that the information could end up in Russian hands Ankara has long sought to be readmitted to the project which was developed by the U S and other NATO members Erdogan has disclosed Turkey invested billion before it was suspended from the project in The U S also imposed sanctions on Turkey under the Countering America s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act the following year Barrack who is also Trump s special envoy for Syria declared there were ongoing discussions with T rkiye regarding their desire to rejoin the F- initiative and their possession of the Russian-made S- air defense system Using the Turkish administration s preferred spelling for Turkey he announced the positive relationship between Trump and Erdogan had created a new atmosphere of cooperation which has led to the the greater part fruitful conversations we have had on this topic in nearly a decade Our hope is that these talks will yield a breakthrough in the coming months that meets both the safety requirements of the United States and T rkiye While it has been excluded from receiving F- s Turkey has been looking elsewhere to bolster its air force including Eurofighter Typhoons and U S -made F- s It is progressing its own fifth-generation KAAN fighter jet which is expected to enter organization in In a meeting with Erdogan at the White House in September Trump signaled that the U S might soon lift the ban on sales of F- s to Ankara The two leaders forged what Trump has described as a very good relationship during his first White House term The Obama and Biden administrations kept Erdogan who has ruled Turkey for years at arm s length U S administrators cited concerns about Turkey s human rights record and the country s ties with Russia Tensions between Turkey and Israel another essential American ally have made relations challenging with Turkey at times Trump sees Erdogan as an intermediary in his efforts to find ends to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza U S and European leaders have followed Erdogan in embracing Syria s new interim leadership Source