Turkiye has reached a deal with the United Kingdom to buy 20 Eurofighter Typhoon jets for almost $11bn, as Ankara seeks to bolster its air defences while it develops its own fifth-generation KAAN fighter planes.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in Ankara on Monday to sign the agreement.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence described the move as the “biggest fighter jet deal in a generation”, while Erdogan hailed it as “a new symbol of the strategic relations” between “two close allies”.
Speaking in Ankara, Starmer said the agreement was also a win for NATO, which counts the UK and Turkiye among its members.
“This is the southeast flank of NATO, and so having that capability locked in with the United Kingdom is really important for NATO as well,” the British prime minister said.
The first Typhoons ordered under Monday’s agreement are expected to arrive in Ankara in 2030, according to Starmer.
In July, Turkiye and the UK signed a preliminary deal for the delivery of 40 Typhoons, a plan approved by the other Eurofighter consortium members Germany, Italy and Spain.
Turkish officials have said Ankara wants to buy 120 fighter jets to reinforce its fleet before its own KAAN jets become operational.
As part of efforts to bridge the gap with regional rivals such as Israel, the Turkish Ministry of Defence has said that it wants to buy 12 more Typhoons apiece from Qatar and Oman.
Last year, Turkiye confirmed a $7bn deal with the United States for 40 F-16s, an order that faces delays.
Erdogan has also recently spoken to his US counterpart Donald Trump about the possibility of re-entering the Washington-led F-35 fighter jet programme, which Turkiye was excluded from in 2019 as a result of its purchase of Russian-made S-400 missile defence systems.
Starmer’s first visit to Turkiye as prime minister coincided with new charges being brought against Ekrem Imamoglu, the jailed mayor of Istanbul, who is seen as Erdogan’s main political rival.
On Monday, Turkish prosecutors accused Imamoglu, who was arrested in March over alleged corruption, of involvement in “espionage” activities. He vehemently denies any wrongdoing, claiming that the charges against him are politically motivated.
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