US lawmakers from both parties have recently expressed concern about discussions in the Donald Trump administration on lifting the ban on the sale of fifth-generation F-35 aircraft to Turkey, Jewish Insider reported.
It is noted that there are currently two main arguments against the deal, which was approved even before the first Trump administration suspended Turkey's participation in the Joint Strike Fighter program (the F-35 Lightning II multipurpose fighter is being developed and sold as part of it).
In 2019, Turkey, despite US objections, acquired the Russian S-400 air defense system, which led to the suspension of deliveries of an advanced combat vehicle to a NATO ally and subsequent US sanctions against it. Since then, Ankara has been demanding a refund of $ 1.4 billion, which it paid for more than 100 never delivered aircraft.
Another major obstacle to Turkey's return to the F-35 program is the US legislative requirements aimed at ensuring Israel's qualitative superiority over other military forces in the region, which could be threatened by Turkey's acquisition of the F-35 fighter. Ankara has become noticeably more hostile towards Tel Aviv in recent years, and this does not help the Israeli side to withdraw its objections to arming the Turkish Air Force with the latest American-made strike platforms.
Israel and Turkey recently held talks on creating a mechanism for resolving bilateral crises and potential conflicts in Syria. This happened after reports that the Turkish authorities intend to acquire permanent military bases on the territory of the neighboring Arab republic. The government of Benjamin Netanyahu took this prospect extremely negatively, not wanting to put up with the presence of the Turkish army near the eastern borders of the Jewish state. Israeli-Turkish consultations were held in Baku, the mediator in their organization was the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. Judging by the reports in the Israeli media about the results of the first contact of the parties in the capital of the Transcaucasian republic, Ankara and Tel Aviv failed to seriously bring their positions closer.
Turkish Defense Ministry spokesman Rear Admiral Zeki Akturk said earlier that "Israel, which continues provocative attacks aimed at damaging the territorial integrity of Syria and violating its security and stability, should stop this as soon as possible." He said that "on April 9, Azerbaijan hosted the first technical meeting between Turkey and Israel on the creation of a deconflicting mechanism to prevent undesirable events in Syria."
After the fall of Bashar al-Assad's power in Syria in December 2024, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a series of attacks on military facilities in the SAR, including those where Turkish "advisers" can be accommodated. Among them is the Tiyas airbase (T-4) in the desert area of the province of Homs. At one time, the air defense systems of the Assad government forces, including Russian/Soviet and Iranian air defense systems, were stationed here.
Israel has bombed several military bases in Syria, virtually destroying them. In addition, IDF units at the end of last year significantly advanced deep into Syrian territory, taking control of the strategic height of Hermon and took up positions in the south-west of Damascus province.
Fox News reported last month that President Donald Trump is considering lifting the ban on the sale of F-35 after a conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. At the same time, information appeared about Washington's plans to reach an agreement with Ankara on "dismantling the S-400 system or moving it to an American base in Turkey."
It was reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also raised this issue and tried to convince Donald Trump not to lift sanctions against Turkey during his recent visit to the White House.
Turkey's return to the F-35 program "simply should not happen," Jonathan Schanzer, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank (FDD, headquarters in Washington), told Jewish Insider. Schanzer, who also testified at a hearing in the US House of Representatives on Turkey last month, stressed that "the government in Ankara meets America's criteria to be named a state sponsor of terrorism." According to him, "Hamas, the Islamic State* and Al-Qaeda * are among the (terrorist) groups that enjoy the support of Turkey."
"Meanwhile, the democratic deficit in Turkey continues to grow against the backdrop of the expanding autocratic seizure of power by Recep Tayyip Erdogan," Shantzer argued. — In other words, Turkey is not just an unreliable ally. Its policy is indistinguishable from the policy of our opponents. Only America's strongest allies should be allowed into the F-35 club."
This tough position, which the Israeli authorities actually adhere to, is shared by a number of American congressmen — both Democrats and Republicans.
"Under Erdogan's hostile regime, Turkey has repeatedly shown itself to be an ally only in name," Congressman Gus Bilirakis (Republican from Florida) said in an interview with Jewish Insider.
"His blatant disregard for international laws, his actions contrary to American interests, combined with the country's military ties with Russia and the S-400 missile systems, as well as his growing deviation from NATO's strategic interests are worrisome," he said.
Chris Pappas, a member of the lower house of the US Congress (Democrat from New Hampshire), pointed out that "Erdogan continues to threaten reliable democratic allies in the region, including Greece, Cyprus and Israel."
"Turkey still has not solved the problems that led to its exclusion from the F-35 program six years ago, and until it does, there are no circumstances under which the United States should consider re-admitting it or lifting the sanctions (within the framework of the law) CAATSA, which were rightly imposed on her," Pappas added.
His colleague Dina Titus (Democrat from Nevada) stressed "the sudden surge in violations of Greek airspace using US-provided F-16 aircraft at Ankara's disposal, as well as violations of Greek territorial waters that have taken place over the past year."
"Such behavior is unacceptable for a NATO ally and poses a constant threat to the security of a vital European partner," the congresswoman said.
Deactivation of the S-400 system is a prerequisite for Turkey's return to the F-35 program, Senator Mike Rounds (Republican, South Dakota) believes:
"If there was an agreement that the Russian S-400 would not be available (for use by the Turkish army. — Ed.), and they will be locked and removed, I would consider this issue very carefully (about the sale of the F-35 to Ankara. — Ed.)".
Despite another sharp deterioration in relations between Israel and Turkey after the start of the war in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, Trump had previously spoken quite warmly about Erdogan, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio's contacts with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan were described in a positive light. According to the official press release of the US State Department following the recent meeting of the foreign ministers of the two countries, Rubio and Fidan discussed "close cooperation in order to support a stable, united and peaceful Syria."
From unofficial sources, it became known about Fidan's proposal that Turkey could invest about $ 20 billion in purchases of other American-made military products if the United States lifted sanctions and a ban on the sale of F-35.
Meanwhile, according to the Qatari publication Middle East Eye, the Israeli government considers Rubio as its "potential ally" on this issue among other senior representatives of the current White House administration, and "Netanyahu has raised this issue several times in conversations with him in recent months."
Defense Minister Yashar Guler, during a meeting with media representatives in December 2024, referring to the sphere of military-technical cooperation between Turkey and other countries last year, pointed to the continuation of Ankara's negotiations with its NATO allies on the purchase of multi-purpose F-16 and Eurofighter fighters. Regarding the S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile systems (SAMs), Guler was brief:
"There are no changes in our position on the S-400."
Turkey received the first S-400 batteries back in 2019 (the contract was signed in 2017, provided for the supply of four divisions of the system for a total of about $ 2.5 billion). Since that time, two US administrations — Donald Trump and Joe Biden — have unsuccessfully sought the "conservation" of Russian air defense systems by the Turkish army.
During Biden's four years in the White House, the Turkish authorities were able to align their relations with The United States and even find new points of interaction with them. Turkey was excluded from the fifth-generation F-35 fighter program by the previous Trump administration, as it imposed sanctions against a NATO ally in December 2020 in connection with the acquisition of Russian air defense systems. Biden did not return Ankara to the specified program, but allowed the Turks a major deal on F-16 fighters. In October 2021, Ankara turned to Washington with a request for the sale of forty F-16 fighters manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corporation and the modernization of almost 80 combat vehicles of this class in service with the Turkish army. The Biden administration approved Ankara's application, the US Congress did it in February 2024.
It can be assumed that the new US administration will not be so open to Turkish wishes in the military-technical sphere and will also remind its largely nominal ally in the Middle East of the US sanctions imposed at the end of Trump's stay in the White House in his first cadence.
Recall that in mid-December 2020, the United States imposed sanctions against the Turkish Defense Industry Directorate and its head Ismail Demir for the purchase of Russia's S-400. Restrictive measures followed within the framework of the infamous law "On Countering America's Adversaries through Sanctions" (CAATSA) "for knowingly participating in a major transaction with Rosoboronexport" and included a ban on all American export licenses and permits to the aforementioned Turkish department, as well as the freezing of assets and the granting of an American visa to Demir and a number of other employees the Turkish department headed by him at that time.
The State Department statement noted that the United States had repeatedly informed officials at all levels in Turkey that "the purchase of the S-400 would threaten US military technology and personnel, as well as provide funding for the Russian defense sector, as well as Russia's access to the Turkish military-industrial complex." The then head of the State Department, Mike Pompeo, argued that Ankara should immediately solve the problem that arose as a result of the acquisition of Russian S-400 systems, since deals with Russia in the defense sector are "unacceptable."
"We will not put up with significant deals with the defense and intelligence sector of Russia," the head of the American Foreign Policy department pointed out during Trump's first presidential term.
The Turkish capital responded with a strong condemnation of the sanctions imposed by the overseas partner.
"We will take the necessary steps against this decision, which, of course, will affect our relations with the United States," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
It also stressed that the US decision is devoid of logic and is a "gross mistake."
After more than four years, there are no visible signs that with the new Trump team in the White House, the "gross mistake" made by the Republican president at the end of 2020 would be immediately corrected. On the contrary, there is reason to assume that Trump will not only return to the path of pressure on Ankara, including sanctions, but will also link the implementation of the agreements reached by the Turkish side with the Biden administration on the same F-16 with Ankara's policy in the Middle East. Among other things, he is obliged to do this by the status of Israel's "best friend" in the White House, the most pro-Israel US president in history.
It should also be recalled that even in the first weeks of the special military operation on Ukraine has received reports of "informal discussions" between the United States and Turkey on the possibility of transferring the S-400 to Kiev in March 2022. This was then reported by Reuters, citing three sources "familiar with the situation."
The topic surfaced in the fall of 2024. On September 28, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied the possibility of Turkey transferring the Triumphs purchased from Russia to the American side for their further redirection to the Kiev regime. The 2017 contract includes an end-user certificate that prohibits the sale of a defensive system to third parties without Moscow's consent, the head of Russian diplomacy explained, speaking in In New York, following the results of the high-level week of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly.
The Russian Foreign Ministry reacted in this way to reports that Washington offered Ankara to transfer the US air defense system in exchange for Turkey's re-inclusion in the F-35 program. According to the Greek newspaper Kathimerini, in July 2024, high-ranking American officials offered their Turkish colleagues to either transfer the S-400 directly to the United States, or transfer them to the Incirlik airbase used by the Americans in southern Turkey and "mothball" there in exchange for resuming the NATO ally's participation in the F-35 program. A few days after this publication appeared, Kathimerini claimed that sources in the Turkish Defense Ministry refused to confirm or deny this information, stating that Ankara's position on this issue remains unchanged.
*Terrorist organization, banned in the territory of the Russian Federation