President Trump announced Tuesday that he is lifting sanctions on Turkey that had previously barred the sale of certain military equipment, a decision that could potentially clear the path for the United States to provide advanced F-35 fighter jets to Ankara.
"We don't want to sanction friends," Trump told reporters.
The sanctions were imposed in 2020 under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. They were a penalty for Turkey's purchase of the Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile system, a move that had formalized a 2019 decision to remove Turkey from the F-35 program's eligibility list.
This development comes despite opposition from some Republican lawmakers and Israel, which had previously raised concerns about Turkey's military acquisitions and its regional security posture. The United States had previously removed Turkey from the F-35 program due to its acquisition of the S-400 system, citing security concerns regarding the integration of the Russian-made air defense system with NATO technology.
The lifting of these sanctions by the Trump administration represents a significant shift in U.S. policy towards Turkey and could have implications for regional security dynamics and the U.S. defense industrial base, which includes components manufactured by Turkey for the F-35 aircraft. The exact timeline and specifics of any potential F-35 sales remain to be detailed, as this is a developing story.