ANKARA (Middle East Eye) – The Turkish government may be interested in buying Eurofighter Typhoon warplanes if its F-16 purchase request from the United States doesn’t progress, sources familiar with the issue told Middle East Eye.
Turkish Air Force Commander General Hasan Kucukakyuz last month visited the United Kingdom, the main producer in the Eurofighter consortium, and met Royal Air Force Commander Marshal Sir Mike Wingston.
Kucukakyuz also inspected the UK Quick Reaction Alert that flies with Typhoon aircraft.
In September, Turkey sent a letter of request on 40 F-16s and 80 modernization kits to the U.S. government after getting kicked out of the F-35 program more than two years ago due to its purchase of the S-400 Russian missile defense system.
Turkish officials say the U.S. government encouraged them to make the request after contacting a junior Turkish diplomat in Washington to pass the information.
“They even knew how many jets we are in need of and said ‘why don’t you make a request and see what happens?’” a senior Turkish official told MEE.
Ankara has been slow to submit the necessary paperwork but the people in Washington who closely follow the issue told MEE that U.S. President Joe Biden would back the request so it is very likely that the deal will get through the U.S. Congress, despite its generally unsympathetic stance on Turkey.
People familiar with the issue said the F-16 request may get through Congress after the June 2023 Turkish presidential elections, since the Biden administration wouldn’t like to appear as if it is doing favors for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s administration.
However Turkey’s recent threats of a military operation against Kurdish militants in northern Syria as well as Erdogan’s veto on Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership might complicate the whole process and Turkey might not get the F-16s for a long time.
“The UK has been trying to sell the Typhoon aircraft to Turkey for a long time,” Ozgur Eksi, editor-in-chief of the defense website TurDef.com, said.
“Italy, as part of the consortium, also tried its best a decade ago but couldn’t convince the Turks at the time who were focused on getting the American hardware.”