The US State Department reaffirmed that Turkey remains ineligible to purchase or receive F-35 fighter jets.
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opposition to a potential U.S. sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, saying decisions on American arms sales rest with Washington.
“Nobody tells me what we should be selling,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Trump described Turkey as a “tremendous ally” that has done a “very good job” in regional matters, including Syria. While acknowledging that Ankara is “not a big fan” of Israel or Netanyahu, he said the relationship between the United States and Turkey remains strong.
Speaking during the NATO summit in Turkey, Trump also said he would “certainly consider” restoring F-35 sales to Ankara, describing Turkey as being “much more loyal than other countries.”
His comments confirmed earlier media reports that said Trump was “pissed off” by Netanyahu’s public criticism of the proposed sale.
Opposition to transferring the aircraft to Turkey has also come from within the U.S. government.
Last week, the United States reaffirmed that Turkey remains ineligible to purchase or receive F-35 fighter jets because it has not met the legal requirements tied to its acquisition of the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system.
In a letter to Congress, the State Department said existing U.S. law continues to prohibit transferring the aircraft under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act and the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act.
The department said Turkey must relinquish the S-400 system, commit not to acquire comparable Russian-made systems in the future and satisfy all certification requirements before any transfer can proceed.
“Turkey has not yet met these conditions,” the State Department wrote.
The letter added that any effort to resolve the dispute over the S-400 system must be “transparent, lawful, and consistent with our national security interests.”
The State Department’s position leaves the current legal restrictions in place even as Trump publicly expressed support for reconsidering the sale and rejected Netanyahu’s objections to providing the advanced fighter aircraft to Turkey.
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