Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his Defense Minister Hulusi Akar is in talks with the US side regarding the purchase and modernization of F-16 fighters, and that a positive phase in this regard continues.
This came in a statement to reporters by plane during his return to Turkey, after his participation in the emergency summit of leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization "NATO".
Erdogan indicated that there are positive approaches regarding the modernization and purchase of new F-16 fighters.
"(US President Joe) Biden told me I will present my positive approach to Congress on this matter and I will follow up. If we reach a conclusion in that direction, we will have the opportunity to finish the process of purchasing and modernizing the F-16 quickly. And I hope so," he added.
It is noteworthy that Turkey submitted a request to the United States to purchase F-16 fighters and equipment to modernize fighters of the same type within its air force.
On October 17, President Erdoğan indicated that the F-16 file is related to the F-35, and that the offer in this regard came from the American side, not from Turkey.
And he indicated that the issue that concerns Turkey is that it has paid one billion and 400 million dollars for the F-35 fighter jet project.
It is noteworthy that Washington did not hand over the F-35 fighters to Turkey, under the pretext of providing Ankara with the Russian S-400 air defense system, after the United States refrained from providing Turkey with Patriot systems.
On this system, Erdogan commented, "We said at the beginning that it was over, and today we are at the same point."