ANKARA, Turkey (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the U.S. will lift sanctions on Turkey that were issued after Ankara purchased a Russian missile defense system that led to the country being kicked out of the F-35 fighter jet program.<\/p>\n
There are still a number of legal hurdles before Turkey could be fully admitted back to the U.S. program, but the removal of the sanctions \u2014 issued under the Countering America\u2019s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act \u2014 would help ease the process for Ankara to regain access to the F-35s, a top goal of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and one that Trump has predicted for some time would occur. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to be taking the sanctions off, OK?\u201d Trump said in response to a question during a meeting with Erdogan at the presidential palace in Ankara. He said Cabinet officials were working on the matter. Earlier in the meeting, he said the possibility of selling the F-35s to Turkey is \u201ccertainly something we will consider.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump and Erdogan repeatedly underscored their warm relationship as they met soon after the U.S. president arrived in Ankara for the NATO summit. Erdogan greeted the U.S. president with an elaborate welcome ceremony involving cannons, military officials on horseback and jets flying overhead emitting red, white and blue smoke. <\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes you get along with the toughest people, like him,\u201d Trump said, gesturing to Erdogan. The U.S. president repeatedly praised Turkey for its loyalty to the U.S., particularly during the war in Iran. <\/p>\n
Trump, who has often upended NATO gatherings with complaints that European allies did not spend enough on defense, had said he would not have attended this year\u2019s summit had it not been for his close ties with Erdogan. <\/p>\n
\u2018Moment of great pride\u2019<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, NATO showcased a series of military projects worth billions of dollars \u2014 an investment that the alliance\u2019s secretary-general, Mark Rutte, called \u201cmoney well spent.\u201d <\/p>\n
An energized Rutte was speaking to government ministers and defense industry officials at a forum billed as NATO\u2019s \u201cbig reveal,\u201d to the thrum of techno music and a slick video display.<\/p>\n
NATO as an organization does not own any weapons \u2014 these are the property of the 32 member countries \u2014 but it does have a fleet of 14 AWACS early warning radar surveillance planes that are about 50 years old, along with some newer surveillance drones.<\/p>\n
A deal to replace the aging planes was announced Tuesday. Swedish manufacturer Saab will be supplying up to 10 new GlobalEye surveillance aircraft for a 10-nation consortium, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a moment of great pride,\u201d he said, noting that the twin-engine aircraft would be \u201cmade within the alliance for all the alliance.\u201d <\/p>\n
Some of the projects will be paid for with funds from a system of cheap loans<\/a> for defense purposes set up by the European Union, comprising up to $170 billion raised on capital markets.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to ensure that we are translating our economic might into military capabilities, putting the cash to work from defense plans to drones, from money to missiles and interceptors,\u201d Rutte said.<\/p>\n Trump has branded NATO a \u201cpaper tiger\u201d<\/a> that would cease to function without American arms and leadership. At the forum on Tuesday, Michael Duffy, a U.S. undersecretary of defense, said \u201cthe reality is that we need production increases across the board.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe will be looking to increase our exports to those who are looking to buy our equipment, and we\u2019ll also be looking to partner with the expansion of production capacity here in Europe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Defense sales announced<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n Sign up for Morning Wire:<\/strong> Representatives from 15 nations shook hands and patted shoulders on a vast podium under the NATO logo as they announced a multinational effort to buy air-to-air refueling and transport planes from Airbus.<\/p>\n Then Rutte announced a four-country effort to purchase as many as five new Triton surveillance drones to add to NATO\u2019s small fleet. <\/p>\n \u201cIt is genuinely made in NATO, and creating jobs on both sides of the Atlantic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Rutte told reporters on the eve of the military alliance\u2019s two-day summit in Turkey<\/a> that \u201cwe will announce tens of billions in new contracts that will provide the crucial kit we need to deter and defend.\u201d<\/p>\n However, at Tuesday\u2019s event, no dollar figures were given and the display included some projects long since agreed. <\/p>\n The defense industry splash comes a few weeks after Rutte tried to ease U.S. concerns about military spending at NATO with a new pitch<\/a> using a chart labeled \u201cThe Trump Trillion\u201d \u2014 showing $1.2 trillion in spending by European allies and Canada since 2017.<\/p>\n Trump appeared unmoved, saying he was still disappointed at some NATO allies\u2019 refusal to join the Iran war<\/a>, which he had launched alongside Israel without consulting them.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t need their money \u2014 we don\u2019t need anything,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI just want loyalty.\u201d<\/p>\n Debate over jet sales to Turkey<\/p>\n The summit is being held in Erdogan\u2019s<\/a> sprawling palace compound in Ankara, and Trump has suggested he would come bearing gifts for the Turkish leader. <\/p>\n Turkey was barred from the F-35 fighter jet program in 2019 after it purchased Russian-made S-400<\/a> missile defense systems. When asked about the fate of Turkey\u2019s return to the F-35 system, Trump said as he sat next to Erdogan that \u201cit\u2019s certainly something we will consider.<\/p>\n Speaking Monday on the morning show \u201cFox & Friends,\u201d Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> urged the U.S. not to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, saying that Erdogan \u201ccalls openly for the annihilation of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n Turkey and Israel have acrimonious relations. Erdogan frequently accuses Israel of committing genocide in its war in Gaza, triggered by the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.<\/p>\n Netanyahu said selling Turkey F-35s would \u201cupset the power balance in the Middle East, which is ultimately guaranteed by Israeli air superiority and also, I think, by America\u2019s posture in the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n Turkey beefed up security and banned protests in Ankara during the summit, but a small group of demonstrators gathered on Tuesday in the capital. They were quickly surrounded by police, and a legal association said 22 students affiliated with the leftist Turkish Workers Party and three lawyers had been detained.<\/p>\n Seeking a stronger Europe for a stronger NATO<\/p>\n The Pentagon wants a reboot and is promoting what it calls \u201cNATO 3.0,\u201d a vision of the alliance in which Europe assumes greater responsibility for its own defense, freeing the U.S. to concentrate on other priorities.<\/p>\n But hiking defense spending means increasing taxes or diverting resources from other priorities. U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey unexpectedly quit<\/a> last month, saying the British government was not willing to spend at a time of rising threats.<\/p>\n Separately on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a fresh appeal for his country to be allowed to join the alliance, saying its armed forces are highly experienced and resilient would only boost the alliance\u2019s defense capabilities.<\/p>\n He highlighted Ukraine\u2019s adaptability and its ability to strike deep inside Russia, hit oil refineries and other energy targets. He said that Ukraine\u2019s armed forces are \u201celiminating\u201d on average 30,000 Russian troops every month.<\/p>\n \u201cFrankly we take no pride in this,\u201d Zelenskyy said, noting that the war with Russia \u2014 now in its fifth year \u2014 is \u201ca war we did not seek but one we are forced to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n Concern is mounting among some northern and central eastern countries that Russia might be preparing a hybrid attack \u2014 a combination of conventional warfare with tactics like cyberattacks \u2014 on the continent as Russian President Vladimir Putin<\/a> struggles to secure victory in Ukraine.<\/a><\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London and Andy Wilks in Istanbul contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ANKARA, Turkey (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the U.S. will lift sanctions on Turkey…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":918878,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[162648,32305,3881,372,69,56270,57,51,3464,6087,109886,8955,371005,8132,8959,50,8961,80,32307,3657,16816,52,24922,66990,274,3656,93,107],"class_list":["post-918877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-airbus-se","tag-ankara","tag-ap-top-news","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-donald-trump","tag-drone-surveillance-and-warfare","tag-general-news","tag-headlines","tag-international-agreements","tag-iran-war","tag-john-healey","tag-mark-rutte","tag-mike-duffy","tag-military-and-defense","tag-nato","tag-news","tag-north-atlantic-treaty-organization","tag-politics","tag-recep-tayyip-erdogan","tag-russia-ukraine-war","tag-sanctions-and-embargoes","tag-top-stories","tag-turkey","tag-ulf-kristersson","tag-vladimir-putin","tag-volodymyr-zelenskyy","tag-washington-news","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116879488855119540","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=918877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/918878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=918877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=918877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=918877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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