Erdogan says US refusal to deliver F-35 jets would be ‘robbery’
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey said it would be ‘robbery’ for the US to deny Turkey the F-35 fighter jets it has bought, according to comments published on Thursday.
Turkey-US ties are under serious strain over Ankara’s purchase of the Russian S-400 air defence system, which is due for delivery in the coming days.
In response, Washington has threatened to cancel Turkey’s order of 116 F-35 fighter jets and kick it off the training and production programme, as well as wider economic sanctions.
‘If you seek a customer, and a customer comes forward and makes payments like clockwork, how can you not give that customer their goods? This would be robbery,’ Erdogan was quoted as saying by Hurriyet daily.
He said Turkey had already paid $1.4 billion, while its defence industry has ploughed significant sums into the warplanes’ production.
The acting US defence secretary, Patrick Shanahan, wrote a letter to Ankara last month warning that Turkish pilots would be expelled from the US if the S-400 deal was not cancelled by July 31.
But after meeting his US counterpart Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Japan on Saturday, Erdogan said he had been assured there would be no sanctions.
Trump blamed the previous administration of Barack Obama for failing to finalise a deal for Turkey to buy the American Patriot system instead of the S-400.
Turkey has previously said Russia offered a better deal including joint production. In his latest comments, Erdogan said Trump’s attitude was ‘praiseworthy’.
More from Defence Notes
-
![“Capital follows confidence” as defence courts private money]()
“Capital follows confidence” as defence courts private money
Outside investment and the direction in which venture money flows may reveal what defence will buy years before formal programmes begin.
-
![Canada’s new military drone marketplace targets rapid acquisition pipeline]()
Canada’s new military drone marketplace targets rapid acquisition pipeline
The Department of National Defence expects initial contracts to deliver thousands of uncrewed systems, but has yet to establish the quantities, capability mix or deadline behind Ottawa’s promised tenfold expansion.
-
![Ukraine turns legacy Kongsberg land turrets into semi-autonomous USV weapons]()
Ukraine turns legacy Kongsberg land turrets into semi-autonomous USV weapons
The company told Shephard that Ukraine is operating modified Protector weapon stations originally supplied for armoured vehicles, with human operators authorising engagements from hundreds of kilometres away.
-
![UK urged to prioritise sea, air and space over heavy armour]()
UK urged to prioritise sea, air and space over heavy armour
A report from the Council on Geostrategy argues the UK should move away from a traditional balanced force and shift investment to naval, air and space capabilities, backed by a larger fleet of attack submarines and deeper AUKUS integration.
-
![Orchestrating operational readiness across every defence domain]()
Orchestrating operational readiness across every defence domain
Are all systems ready for the next mission? Have upgrades been applied? Are all assets aligned to deploy together, on time and fully prepared? In modern defence operations, readiness is no longer measured platform by platform. It is measured by how well people, assets, data and decisions move together — across land, sea and air.
