ANKARA, July 7– U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday in the Turkish capital Ankara that Washington will lift sanctions on Türkiye and consider restoring Ankara’s participation in the F-35 fighter jet program.
“We’re going to be taking the sanctions off,” Trump, who arrived here Tuesday for the NATO summit, told reporters during a joint press conference with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
He was referring to sanctions imposed on Ankara in 2020 over its purchase of Russia’s S-400 air defense system, which also prompted Washington to remove Türkiye from the F-35 fighter jet program.
Asked about the potential return of Türkiye to the F-35 program, Trump said, “We will make a decision on the F-35 issue. Our relationship is very good right now.”
Erdogan, for his part, said the F-35 issue was not “a new subject” in bilateral ties and had been discussed extensively with Washington. “We have discussed it with the U.S. before, and we received a commitment regarding the five (F-35) aircraft,” he said. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
