Washington: President Donald Trump will hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House on Thursday as the Republican leader has indicated that the US government’s hold on sales of advanced fighter jets to Ankara may soon be lifted. During Trump’s first term, the United States kicked out Turkey, a NATO ally, from its flagship F-35 fighter jet programme after it purchased an air defence system from Russia. US officials worried that Turkey’s use of Russia’s S-400 surface-to-air missile system could be used to gather data on the capabilities of the F-35 and that the information could end up in Russian hands.
But Trump last week gave Turkey hope that a resolution to the matter is near as he announced plans for Erdogan’s visit.
“We are working on many Trade and Military Deals with the President, including the large scale purchase of Boeing aircraft, a major F-16 Deal, and a continuation of the F-35 talks, which we expect to conclude positively,” Trump said in a social media post.
The visit will be Erdogan’s first trip to the White House since 2019. The two leaders forged what Trump has described as a “very good relationship” during his first White House go-around despite the US-Turkey relationship often being complicated.