Negotiations for Turkey to acquire up to 40 Eurofighter fighters for its air force are progressing ‘quite positively’ and London – the main advocate of the deal with Ankara– is confident that all countries involved in the fighter project – Germany, Spain and Italy, as well as the UK– will give the go-ahead for the deal, the British consul general in Istanbul has said.
“We are confident all four partners are keen to see Türkiye receive those Eurofighters,” British Consul Kenan Poleo was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency. “I believe all the relevant countries recognize the significance of Türkiye acquiring the Eurofighter Typhoon,” he said. Poleo was also optimistic about the progress of negotiations between London and Ankara on a new free trade deal between the two countries, whose trade is worth more than €31 billion.
Turkey has been negotiating for years to buy up to 40 Eurofighter Typhoons to modernise its fleet of F-16s, which make up the bulk of its air force and which Turkey wants to begin withdrawing from service in the next decade. However, the potential deal with the Eurofighter consortium has been hampered for years by disagreements between partners, especially Germany, while the UK – the biggest contributor to the project – has been the main supporter of the deal with Turkey.
Last week, British foreign secretary David Lammy said that “all four consortium partners support this sale“, ending the political objections that Berlin had maintained, especially after the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul. At the end of June, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also spoke out on this issue and urgently called on all members of the Atlantic Alliance not to veto defence sales between allies: “This should not happen within the Alliance”, Rutte stressed, in what was seen as a direct rebuke to Berlin.
Because of the configuration of the Eurofighter project – in which Germany has a 31% of the aircraft’s production, the UK 40%, Italy 21% and Spain 20% – all member countries must give their approval for any sales and exports of the twin-engine, multi-role fighter. Progress in negotiations with Turkey – which is also developing its own 5th generation fighter, the KAAN – has also been helped by Erdoğan’s direct talks during the recent NATO summit with the leaders of the UK and Germany, at which the Turkish president said there had been ‘positive developments’.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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