The US Senate has voted to block transfers of the F-35 fighter jet to Turkey in a move that could ultimately hold up the sale of 100 planes worth close to $10bn.
A bipartisan clause added to the National Defense Authorisation Act would prohibit the transfer of F-35s to Turkey until the secretary of defence submits a plan to remove Turkey from participation in the programme, which includes allocating production of parts to each country.
US senators made the intervention given concerns over Turkey’s stated intent to install the Russian S400 air defence system, which Pentagon officials are concerned would put the secrets of the F-35 and the data it collects at risk.
The bill, which must still be passed by the House, could undergo further changes in the reconciliation process and is not expected to become law until later in the summer.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım harshly criticized a U.S. Senate decision to block F-35 sales to Turkey.
"The decision is an unfortunate development," Hurriyet Daily cited Yıldırım as saying.
"Turkey is not without alternatives. Such attempts are regrettable and goes against the soul of strategic partnership," the PM added.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, in turn, said that Turkey will purchase Russia’s S-400 missile systems and this issue is closed. He stressed that Turkey is not planning to give up this deal despite the decision of the US Senate.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier said that Ankara will not abandon the purchase of Russian S-400 systems despite US Senate decision to block F-35 supplies to Turkey.
An associate professor of the Faculty of International Relations of the TOBB University of Economics and Technology (Ankara), Togrul Ismail, speaking with Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that the US therefore continues to increase political confrontation with Turkey. "First of all, it was a political decision in the framework of the US prejudiced attitude towards Turkey. The production of the F-35 is a joint project with participation of the Turkish defense industry. Thus, the US is obliged to transfer the produced planes to Turkey, but they refuse to do it in order to force Ankara to fulfill what the US considers necessary for them - both in the Middle East, as well as in relations with Russia and other countries," he said.
The political scientist expects that Ankara will challenge this illegal refusal to cooperate in international institutions. "Turkey will most likely seek taking international decisions with regard to the United States and Washington's violation of international agreements on cooperation. I think that certain measures will be taken against the US within the framework of bilateral relations as well," Togrul Ismail said, adding that in conditions of unreliability of the US s a partner in military-technical cooperation, Turkey may increase contacts in this sphere with Russia.
"Turkey is an independent state capable of making a decision on cooperation with any states. Russian-Turkish relations are increasing in this sense. Despite the fact that Russia and Turkey are pat of different military structures (Turkey is a member of NATO), our military-technical cooperation is developing. Russia and Turkey, being two strong regional states, should cooperate, and the more connections in the most diverse areas we have, the more stable, safe, and in the end - prosperous our life will be," the associate professor of the Faculty of International Relations of the TOBB University of Economics and Technology (Ankara) concluded.
