Turkey Sets Sight on European Jets After US F-16 Fighter Jet Deal
The agreement comes after Ankara was kicked out of the US fighter jet program over its purchase of Russian weapons
A deal for Turkey to purchase fighter jets from the US is a sign of improved relations between the two countries amid the ongoing threat of Russia, analysts told The Media Line, as Ankara turns its focus next on procuring jets from European allies.
Experts say the war in Ukraine has made clear the threat Moscow poses to Turkey and the region, motivating Ankara to look to its Western partners to boost its security.
Ankara has struggled to modernize its air force after it was kicked out of a US fighter jet program in 2019 over a weapons deal with Russia.
Ömer Özkizilcik, a foreign policy and security analyst based in Ankara, stated that the F-16 agreement was a sign of the two NATO allies’ strengthening ties.
Acquiring major armaments takes time, and so far, the process has been ongoing without any unexpected setbacks. The smoothness is a visible show of improving Turkish-American bilateral relations. Both NATO allies entered a new momentum in the relationship.
“Acquiring major armaments takes time, and so far, the process has been ongoing without any unexpected setbacks. The smoothness is a visible show of improving Turkish-American bilateral relations. Both NATO allies entered a new momentum in the relationship,” he wrote in a message to The Media Line.
The $23 billion deal to buy the F-16s came after Ankara ratified Sweden’s NATO bid, which had been delayed for over a year and a half.
On Thursday, Turkish Defense Ministry sources stated that the contract had been signed and discussions were taking place over the details, the state news agency reported, citing Turkish National Defense Ministry sources.
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Özkizilcik stated that the F-16s are important to the Turkish Air Force as they allow the country to have updated jets while it takes time to transition to domestically produced ones.
“When the US halted F-35 sales due to Turkey’s acquisition of the Russian S-400 air defense system, it created a gap in the Turkish military’s timetable. Modernizing the existing F-16 fighter jets and acquiring new models will enable Turkey to bridge the gap and transition to its domestically produced fighter jet without leaving a defense vulnerability,” Özkizilcik stated.
Turkey was kicked out of Washington’s F-35 fighter jet program as punishment for purchasing Russia’s anti-missile defense system, the S-400s.
Analysts believed the weapons deal with the Kremlin was an attempt by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to move his country closer to Eastern countries and offset Turkey’s decadeslong alliance with the West as a member of NATO.
After returning from a visit to Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Erdoğan said on Saturday that he had talked about how Madrid could help Turkey get Eurofighter Typhoon jets, the state news agency reported.
Erdoğan added that his country preferred to get its “needs” from NATO, but there were other options, as well.
Turkey said last November that it was holding talks with the UK and Spain to purchase 40 fighter jets. The jets are made by a group of European countries, including Germany, which has a close but fraught relationship with Ankara.
In an article on the Turkish state news agency, Murat Aslan, with the pro-government think tank The Seta Foundation, stated Ankara’s top priority in obtaining the Eurofighters is to balance out Russia’s air capabilities, which will help Turkey contribute to “Europe and NATO under the threat of war.”
Ryan Bohl, a Middle East analyst for the risk intelligence company RANE, stated that the West’s supply of weapons to Turkey has partly led it to tilt back to the region.
This tends to be the wiser long-term play given the West’s continued superiority economically and militarily on a global scale. And Russia is not in a position to punish Turkey for it.
“This tends to be the wiser long-term play given the West’s continued superiority economically and militarily on a global scale. And Russia is not in a position to punish Turkey for it,” he wrote in a message to The Media Line.
In an interview with the Reuters news agency last Wednesday, US Ambassador Jeffrey Flake stated that his country’s “strategic partnership” with Turkey is at its strongest point yet.
Bohl believed relations have improved because Turkey is increasingly cooperating with sanctions targeting Russia and limiting illicit trade into the country.
“I think what Ambassador Flake probably mostly means is that Turkey is complying with Western demands to tighten sanctions as much as Washington and Brussels are demanding it,” Bohl stated.
He added that Ankara is likely hoping that the US will, in turn, change its position on Israel concerning the war in Gaza, but Bohl believed Turkey would have limited leverage to try to convince Washington to do so.
