Following a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Turkish presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin told reporters that Turkey would not be removed from the F-35 programme despite US threats to do so if Ankara does not abandon its S-400 deal with Russia.
“Turkey is and will continue to be a partner of F-35 technology. We are not just a client or buyer of F-35s”, he said.
Earlier this week, Kalin warned that Ankara’s exclusion from the fighter jet project would have a negative impact on the programme overall:
“Turkey’s removal from the F-35 programme will not be a punishment for Turkey, it will damage the programme. Rather than using language of threats from sanctions against Turkey, I think the people here in Congress, as well as this administration should understand Turkey’s security concerns”, Kalin stated, adding that he didn’t believe that Washington could “afford to lose Turkey” as a partner.
He continued by stressing that Ankara’s “dialogue with Russia” and its decision to acquire its S-400s “does not target a third country”: “We are a member of NATO. We value our strategic partnership with the United States”, he concluded.
On 1 April, the US Department of Defence announced that it had halted its delivery of F-35 fighter jet parts to Turkey and that it’s looking for secondary sources of supply for Turkish-produced parts:
In the meantime, the US Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees once again warned of looming sanctions on Turkey last week and called on Ankara to make a choice.
The US has repeatedly threatened to impose sanctions on Turkey in the framework of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), a 2017 law drafted in response to Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential election, if Turkey acquires Russian air defences.