Athens doubts Turkey’s path to F-35s

Turkey’s propulsion to rejoin the F-35 combatant pitchy programme resurfaced successful talks astatine the White House connected Thursday betwixt President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Donald Trump, a petition Ankara has pursued since its removal from the programme successful 2019.

The discussions covered the F-16 and F-35 programs, the US sanctions imposed connected Turkey (the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, oregon CAATSA), and issues of spiritual freedom. Before the gathering with Erdogan, Trump said, “I think he’ll beryllium successful successful buying the things he’d similar to buy.”

He besides said that the champion happening Erdogan tin bash to assistance Ukraine is not bargain Russian lipid and gas.

US sanctions followed Turkey’s acquisition of Russian S-400 rocket systems, with Congress passing authorities blocking F-35 exports to Ankara. Analysts successful Athens enactment that lifting such sanctions under CAATSA, adjacent if considered, would not beryllium straightforward under US law. Still, Erdogan appears to bask renewed White House access, raising concerns successful Greece.

The Biden medication antecedently approved the merchantability of caller F-16s to Turkey and upgrades for its aging fleet, while simultaneously advancing Greece’s acquisition of F-35s. Athens is acceptable to person its archetypal of 20 F-35s successful 2028 and holds an enactment for 20 more. That timeline gives Greece an vantage adjacent if Washington were to reconsider Turkey’s exclusion.

Turkey’s modernization of its F-16 fleet remains critical, though Ankara has scaled backmost its budget, prioritizing different defence needs.

Ahead of the Trump-Erdogan meeting, 20 bipartisan members of Congress, including Greek-American lawmakers Chris Pappas, Gus Bilirakis, Dina Titus and Nicole Malliotakis, warned against arms income to Turkey. In their missive to the secretaries of state and defense, they cited Ankara’s continued possession of the S-400 system, which they said poses a superior menace to US nationalist information by perchance monitoring and analyzing American craft similar the F-16 and F-35. They emphasized that immoderate F-16 oregon F-35 income to Turkey without legislature support would violate US instrumentality and undermine legislature authority. For Athens, the statement underscores a long-standing question: whether Washington will support its argumentation of ensuring Greek aerial superiority 1 step up of Turkey.