Recently, the US Department of Defense informed Turkey that it had been excluded from the popular F-35 stealth aircraft manufacturing program.
This decision is an expected result of the long-running dispute between the two countries, against the backdrop of Ankara's purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system.
In fact, although Turkey is a member of NATO, it has not possessed any air defense system for a long time, and has tried from time to time to purchase the Patriot missile system from the United States to protect itself from the threats surrounding it.
But Washington refrained from selling this defense system to Turkey, arguing that it needed to obtain congressional permission to sell these military products.
But at the same time, this system and other weapons were banned from Turkey and given to other countries that are not even part of this alliance.
Turkey is well aware of the dangers that may result from depriving it of such air defense tools, and for this it has sought in several ways to obtain them with the impossibility of purchasing them from the United States.
Talks have been held with France and China, and the two countries have made offers that are better and more affordable than the US Patriot system.
At first glance, Turkey's removal from the F-35 program may seem negative news, but when we remember the achievements of the Turkish defense industry, and its successes that dazzled everyone and can no longer be denied, we can say that these US sanctions have opened the door to great opportunities for Turkey.
But then Turkey found that it could buy a more advanced Russian S-400 defense system, and so it decided to go ahead with this deal.
This situation was the beginning of the problems between Washington and Ankara, as Washington decided from the first glance that it did not accept a NATO member state to buy a missile system from Russia, which is considered an opponent of NATO and the original reason for establishing this alliance.
The first pretext presented by the United States was that the integration of this foreign and hostile system within NATO systems would represent a security threat to this alliance.
But in reality this problem can be solved.
The second problem is that Russia has been subject to US sanctions since the annexation of Crimea, and these sanctions stipulate that the purchase of Russian military products is prohibited. Therefore, if this deal is completed, it means that Turkey violated the US sanctions.
On the other hand, after announcing these unilateral sanctions, Washington did not provide any alternative solutions for Turkey to obtain an air defense system.
Frankly, it seeks to impose this relationship on Turkey and make it appear normal, and this is something that the Turkish side sees as a real problem.
There is no justification for Washington's insistence on placing the problems before Turkey, which is looking for solutions for itself, and its insistence on not providing any alternatives besides disrupting the existing alternative, which is the Patriot missile system.
During the last days of the administration of former President Donald Trump, a package of sanctions against Turkey was activated in response to the Russian S-400 deal.
This package, which was considered not of great influence in its content, banned the leadership of the Turkish defense industries from entering the US.
In addition, it stipulated that the Turkish Defense Procurement Authority (SSB) would be deprived of obtaining US export licenses, or benefiting from the loans and services of its international financial institutions.
Also within the framework of these sanctions, the United States announced that the joint memorandum on the project to manufacture the famous F-35 stealth aircraft, which Turkey signed in 2007, has been canceled.
In 2006, the United States announced a joint memorandum of 8 countries, namely the United States, Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, Denmark, Canada and Norway, and no other partners were added.
However, Turkey joined the joint program to manufacture the F-35 fighter jet as a manufacturing partner, following the signing of the joint memorandum in 2007. Within the framework of this project, Ankara committed to purchase 100 such aircraft.
In 2008, the ownership of 4 aircraft was transferred to Ankara, but it remained in the United States to participate in training programs in which Turkish pilots participated, and later the ownership of two additional aircraft was also transferred.
But since the outbreak of the Russian S-400 missile crisis, the United States has prevented the delivery of these aircraft to Turkey, and decided to purchase them for the benefit of its air forces as part of the defense budget for 2020.
Turkey had produced 1005 of these famous aircraft parts, but with the beginning of the crisis, the participation of Turkish companies in this program was suspended, and it became clear later that Washington had found other suppliers.
At first glance, Turkey's removal from the F-35 program may seem negative news, but when we remember the achievements of the Turkish defense industry, and its successes that dazzled everyone and can no longer be denied, we can say that these US sanctions have opened the door to great opportunities for Turkey.
In fact, it must be remembered that the problems that began with Israel in 2009 gave a strong impetus to the Turkish defense industries sector, which before that was subordinate to Israel and America.
And quickly Turkey has achieved achievements in this field to become one of the leading countries in the world, especially in the field of drones.
Thanks to these domestically produced drones, Turkey has achieved military successes against PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) terrorism, in Azerbaijan, Libya and Syria, and above all on its territory.
Indeed, Selcuk Bayraktar, the representative of Bayraktar, which has contributed significantly to these successes, declared that his country's exclusion from the F-35 program was an opportunity, not a setback.
Bayraktar also emphasized that this situation, which was initially considered a problem, may be beneficial to the national defense industries, and that the first models of unmanned combat aircraft, which are currently being worked on, may fly in the sky by the year 2023.
It should be noted that the American system, which Turkey has been deprived of its purchase, is a system controlled by foreign computers and software, which the Turks do not have full knowledge of, and it is that which decides when to shoot, and thus can intervene to prevent Turkey from exploiting it independently.
In addition, the talk here revolves around a project worth tens of billions of dollars over the years, given the cost of purchase, operation and maintenance.
Indeed, it may take Turkey longer to develop aircraft with these capabilities, but it is worth the effort, and the benefits will be much greater.
Thus once again Turkey is showing its own example of how to convert problems into opportunities.