US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Washington would lift sanctions imposed on Turkey over its purchase of a Russian air defense system and indicated that his administration was also considering allowing the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Ankara, marking a potential shift in defense relations between the US and Turkey.Speaking alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the NATO summit in Ankara, Trump announced that sanctions imposed under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) would be lifted.“We will lift the sanctions,” Trump told reporters when asked about the measures imposed under the Countering America’s Adversaries Act. He added that members of his government are already working on this process.This announcement comes nearly six years after Washington imposed sanctions on Türkiye after Ankara acquired the Russian S-400 air defense system. The move also led to Türkiye being excluded from the US-led F-35 fighter jet programme, despite Ankara being a customer and production partner.Trump also indicated that his administration is open to restoring Türkiye’s access to fifth-generation fighter jets.
“It’s a decision we’ll make,” Trump said when asked about a possible F-35 sale.He had previously indicated that the proposal was still under active consideration. Trump praised Ankara’s relationship with Washington, and said that Türkiye had shown greater loyalty than many other US allies.“Türkiye has, in many ways, been much more loyal than other countries that we thought would be loyal,” he said.
Referring to the plane itself, Trump added: “It’s a great plane, it’s the best, it’s the best plane out there right now. It’s certainly something we’ll take into consideration.”He repeated the same position later during the meeting. “We have a better relationship with Türkiye, and Türkiye has been in many respects more loyal than other countries that we thought would be loyal.”While lifting CAATSA sanctions would remove a major hurdle, Turkey would still need to clear several legal and political hurdles before it could fully join the F-35 program.Erdogan welcomed Trump’s statements and expressed confidence that Washington would eventually approve the sale. Speaking at the joint press conference, the Turkish president said he hoped the United States would sell F-35s to Turkey because “the American president always sticks to his word.”Erdogan also said the two leaders would discuss the sale of jet engines to Turkey’s domestically produced Kan fighter program.
He added that Türkiye expects Trump to “repeat the positive news” he previously announced regarding support for Turkish defense projects.Turkey’s purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system has remained one of the biggest points of friction in US-Turkey relations since 2019. In response, Washington imposed CAATSA sanctions on a major Turkish defense company in 2020, formally removing Ankara from the multinational F-35 jet programme, a decision Turkey has repeatedly called unfair.