Turkey calls on Washington to supply it with F-35 jets "without preconditions"

Turkish Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun has called on the West and the United States to hand over F-35 fighters and Patriot batteries to Turkey "without preconditions," saying informal proposals would not mend relations.

Turkey's presidential communications chief, Fahrettin Altun, on Wednesday urged the West and the United States to hand over F-35 fighters and Patriot batteries to Turkey "without preconditions," saying informal proposals would not mend relations.

In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, Altun referred to an article published last week that suggested using Turkey's S-400 missile systems in Ukraine against Russia, which the article said would improve the relationship between Washington and Ankara.

"The idea, while unrealistic today, is an opportunity to discuss Turkey's recent problems with the West," Altun said.

In the article, the senior official criticized the American accounts of Turkey's decision to buy Russian-made missiles, saying that it neglected that Ankara was the first to turn to the United States to buy the Patriot system.

"Given that Turkey is located in one of the most dangerous and turbulent regions in the world, and the threats that Turkey faced did not magically disappear with Washington's refusal, Ankara had to look for alternatives," Altun added, referring to former US President Donald Trump's recognition of the matter during his presidential term. .

He added that Turkey did not have the option to purchase the Patriot system.

"The Turks still remember how our allies withdrew Patriot batteries from Turkey during one of the most tense periods in Turkish-Russian relations. In light of experience, the Turkish people no longer take seriously any unofficial pledge from the West to provide them with a Patriot system," he said.

He explained that Turkey's illegal "exclusion" from the F-35 program for political considerations (which the United States has not formally or legally notified Turkey of) makes it difficult to deal seriously with the "metaphorical carrot" of "returning Turkey."

In 2019, the United States excluded Turkey from the F-35 program because the latter had purchased the Russian S-400 air defense system.

However, Turkey has stressed that the S-400 system will not be integrated into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and therefore will not pose any threat to the alliance or its weapons, and Ankara has repeatedly suggested setting up a committee to clarify the issue.

Alton saw that the normalization of relations with Turkey is the responsibility of the West and the United States.

"The Ukrainian crisis has shown that geopolitical assessments are misled by those who downplay Turkey's strategic importance, claim that NATO is brain dead, and believe that national borders are no longer negotiable," he said.

He added that Turkey is waiting for the West to treat it as it deserves, stressing that "it will require confidence-building measures, not so-called informal proposals, to reform the relationship."

Regarding the Bayraktar drone, which is part of a stockpile that helps Ukraine fight the Russians, Altun said that Turkey designed and manufactured it despite Western efforts to obstruct this process.

"Canada, for example, has banned arms sales to Turkey, while the irrational politicization of defense cooperation among NATO allies has reduced Turkey's dependence on foreign governments and pushed Turkish companies to innovate," he added.

It should be noted that on February 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine, which was followed by angry international reactions and the imposition of "tough" economic and financial sanctions on Moscow.

Russia requires Ukraine to abandon any plans to join military entities, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, "NATO" and to maintain complete neutrality, which Kyiv considers an "interference in its sovereignty" to end the operation.