US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said on Sunday after meeting President Erdoğan that he would like to get NATO ally Turkey back in a joint manufacturing program for F-35 fighter jets, from which it was expelled in July.
“We’re trying to get them back in the F-35 program,” Graham, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, said in New York, according to a video posted on Twitter and reports in Turkish media.
FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
Ankara and Washington have clashed over Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 missile defenses, which the United States says are not compatible with NATO defenses and pose a threat to Lockheed Martin Corp’s F-35 stealth jets.
Washington removed Turkey from the joint F-35 program after Turkey accepted delivery of S-400 equipment in July. Ankara also aimed to purchase some of the jets but now says it could look elsewhere.
In the video, Graham said he and Erdoğan discussed a possible free trade agreement. “Turkey is a very important ally, not just when it comes to Syria but for the whole region,” he told reporters.