Türkiye has been acquiring American F-35 fighters for nearly a quarter of a century. The United States barred the Turkish Air Force from receiving the F-35 stealth fighters because of Ankara’s purchase of the Russian S-400 missile system. How has US policy changed on this issue?
Reasons for the 2019 US Sanctions Against Türkiye
The modernization of the Turkish Air Force serves both Türkiye’s national security interests and the common interests of NATO in the European and Middle Eastern theaters of potential military operations. However, intra-alliance contradictions, on the one hand, and the Turkish authorities following an independent foreign policy since the 2000s in favor of mutually beneficial ties with China and Russia, on the other, led to the imposition of sanctions against Türkiye by its principal ally, the United States.
As is well known, as early as July 2002, within the framework of modernizing its national air force, Türkiye joined the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Development Effort, and in January 2007 it joined the JSF production phase and agreed to purchase 116 F-35 Lightning II fighters (100 units for the Air Force and 16 units for the Navy).
However, because of the United States’ refusal to supply Türkiye with Patriot air-defense systems, in 2019 Ankara, pursuing an independent policy, purchased two S-400 surface-to-air missile system batteries from Russia for $2.5 billion. This forced step by Türkiye, taken amid the strengthening of the Greek Air Force, became the pretext for the United States imposing sanctions prohibiting the delivery of F-35 fighters to Ankara. On 17 July 2019 the US Senate passed a defense spending bill that banned the sale of these fighters to Türkiye because of the Turks’ acquisition of the Russian missile system. To this day, however, the United States has not returned to Türkiye the $1.4 billion payment for the purchase of 100 F-35A fighters.
Thus, the principal reason cited for the US refusal to sell F-35 fighters is Türkiye’s acquisition of Russian armaments, as this could entail negative military consequences for NATO in terms of the possible transfer of secret coding and identification data of the “friend-or-foe” system under combat conditions.
In seeking to resolve the dispute that has arisen between Washington and Ankara, the Biden and Trump administrations successively proposed that Türkiye refrain from operating the Russian S-400 system (not placing it on combat duty) and cease or limit military-technical cooperation with Russia, especially after the start of the Special Military Operation in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, in addition to the Russian factor, an equally serious reason for the refusal to supply F-35 fighters to Türkiye – one that is not publicly acknowledged by the United States – is Israel’s objection. Tel Aviv, which is developing a regional military alliance with Greece, Cyprus, and France, and demonstrating aggressive ambitions in the region (military conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iran), is highly uninterested in the transfer of F-35s to Türkiye, as this would undermine the Israeli Air Force in the Middle Eastern theater. Accordingly, Israeli intelligence services (Mossad and Aman), the Foreign Ministry, and the Jewish lobby have, in every possible way, blocked a resolution of the American-Turkish dispute on this issue.
Ankara NATO Summit and Trump’s Stance on Lifting Sanctions on Türkiye
In July 2026, another NATO summit was held in Türkiye, where US President Donald Trump participated. Ankara has always skillfully balanced between the West and East, but President Erdoğan once again made a strategic choice in favor of the United States and Europe.
At the summit, Türkiye confirmed its plans to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP in accordance with the new NATO requirements; Turkish F-16 fighters are to patrol Estonian airspace; Ankara announced an increase in military support for Ukraine; and in talks with Trump, Erdoğan agreed to accept Washington’s conditions on stopping the operation of the Russian S-400 systems in exchange for F-35 fighters. In addition, Turkish-Russian trade turnover has decreased by 22.8%. The Turkish president, however, emphasized the importance of maintaining ties with Moscow and Türkiye’s constant readiness to resume the Istanbul platform for the Russian-Ukrainian negotiation process.
Donald Trump reacted positively to the idea of lifting sanctions against Türkiye and selling fifth-generation fighters to Turkish allies. However, there is usually a significant gap between words and deeds. And in this case, Trump’s verbal consent does not equal an automatic solution to the problem.
The US State Department has repeated that Ankara’s final renunciation of the Russian S-400 systems is necessary for the lifting of sanctions against Türkiye. But Türkiye has certain contractual obligations to Russia in relation to the S-400s, and any subsequent operations with Russian armaments require coordination with Moscow. As a result, as noted by the heads of Türkiye’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of National Defense (Hakan Fidan and Yasar Guler), Türkiye and Russia are conducting negotiations on the sale of the S-400s to a third party. It should be noted that since 2019 the Turks have neither integrated the S-400s into the country’s air-defense system, nor put them into active operation, and have excluded the Russian SAM system from the national “Steel Dome” project due to technical incompatibility.
Official Press Secretary and Spokesperson of the Russian President, Dmitry Peskov, described the negotiations as “highly sensitive,” but the issue of selling the S-400s will not affect Russian-Turkish relations.
The press has named Qatar, the UAE, and South Korea as potential buyers of the S-400s from Türkiye. However, this list is not limited to the aforementioned states, and Azerbaijan, Syria, and Pakistan may easily also be considered.
In my view, given Türkiye’s high interest in the American F-35s, the negotiations with Russia on the sale of the S-400s are unlikely to be lengthy. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed extreme dissatisfaction with Trump’s position on the sale of F-35s to Türkiye, which provoked the US president’s discontent and led to the disruption of Netanyahu’s visit to Washington. It is obvious that Tel Aviv is mobilizing all its resources in the United States through both public and secret diplomacy to disrupt the delivery of F-35s to Türkiye.
In Israel itself, anti-Turkish rhetoric continues to intensify, and analytical centers are drawing conclusions about Turkish threats (for example, regarding the seizure of Jerusalem). According to data from the Turkish agency “Yeni Şafak”, this is noted in a report by the Jerusalem Center for Applied Policy (JCAP).
Alexander Svarants – PhD in Politics, Professor, specialist in Turkish Studies, expert on Middle Eastern countries
Follow new articles on our Telegram channel
