President Donald Trump said he would lift sanctions off Turkey and make a decision on a potential sale of F-35s to Ankara as he began a meeting on Tuesday with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan at a NATO summit.
In 2020, Washington imposed CAATSA sanctions on Turkey over its acquisition of Russian S-400 air defense systems. It also removed Ankara from the F-35 fighter jet program, a move Turkey called unjust and illegal.
Trump was expected to throw his support behind the potential sale of F-35s during the visit to Ankara, two sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, even as legal and congressional hurdles have yet to be fully resolved.
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Video Summary
AI Generated
The speaker expresses a strong intention to lift sanctions on Turkey, citing a positive relationship and Turkey's loyalty compared to other nations. The discussion emphasizes a commitment to supporting Turkey, particularly regarding the maintenance and rehabilitation of aircraft engines for planes they purchased from the United States.
I can tell you, we're going to be taking the sanctions off, okay?
I don't want him to waste his time answering that question, because we're working very
closely with Marco Rubio, a very famous man, great Secretary of State, and with Scott Bessett,
and with Pete and everybody else.
We're going to be taking the sanctions off.
It's time to do that, okay?
It's a decision we're going to make.
We have a very good relationship.
I would think that many people, I can tell you, many people, including the people sitting
right here, thinks, you know, why wouldn't we do that?
We have a better relationship with Turkey, and Turkey has been, in many ways, much more
loyal than other countries that we think would be loyal.
So yeah, it's something certainly we would consider.
It's a great plane.
It's the best, currently the best plane by far.
And it's certainly something we will consider, yeah.
Turkey bought planes.
It's the best plane.
But they bought planes from the United States.
And when you buy a plane from the United States, if there's engine rehab and other things that
are done to engines, there's various things that happen, including just maintenance.
I think we have an obligation to maintain engines and help them maintain engines.
