ANKARA, Turkey, Aug 29 (NNN-ANADOLU) – Turkey will turn to alternative suppliers of warplanes, if it fails to get the F-35 fighter jets from the U. S., Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said on Wednesday.
Turkey needs the F-35 jets and if the planes are not delivered, Turkey will have to search for alternatives, although it does not prefer to do so, said the Turkish top diplomat, at a joint press conference with his Estonian counterpart, Urmas Reinsalu.
Right now, Turkey is still a partner of the F-35 programme, and some parts of the jets are produced in Turkey, he added.
“Nowadays, the United States is stirring up trouble. But Turkey is still part of this 9-partner F-35 programme,” Cavusoglu stressed.
The U. S. has decided to suspend Turkey from the F-35 programme, after Ankara decided to proceed with its deal of the S-400 missile defence systems with Russia.
Turkey is in “urgent need” of missile systems and it has to buy the S-400 defence systems, said the minister.
Regarding the Turkey-Russia ties, he said, the two countries enjoy good economic relations, and that both sides will try to overcome difficulties concerning Syria and the Syrian government, through the Astana and Sochi processes.
The Astana peace process was jointly launched by Russia, Turkey and Iran in Jan, 2017 to tackle the crisis in Syria.– NNN-ANADOLU
