Turkish FM Says Trump Reassured Turkey Over F-35 Jets

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu claimed that U.S. President Donald J. Trump offered reassurances over the delivery of F-35 fighter jets and even promised to take necessary steps if needed.

Cavusoglu noted that there were no problems over the F-35 sale to Turkey and he did not expect any problems in the future as well.

Trump earlier this week called his Turkish counterpart President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over his re-election in presidential elections on Sunday.

Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to work together against the threat of terrorism in Syria and, according to state-run Anadolu news agency, vowed to implement the Manbij roadmap.

“Our president told Trump during the phone conversation. Trump said he would take the necessary step. What matters here is the administration’s decision, the Trump administration is determined over this matter.” Cavusoglu said in a televised interview aired on NTV television channel on Thursday night.

“There is no problem in the delivery of F-35s,” he added.

Turkey has been particularly disturbed by bipartisan efforts in both chambers of the U.S. Congress to block the delivery of F-35 advanced fighter jets to Turkey. Last week, Lockheed Martin organized a rollout ceremony for the delivery of the first F-35 jet.

Turkish pilots will take training and test flights with the jet until 2020.

Pentagon’s plan to go ahead with the sale would create a showdown between the Defense Department and the U.S. Congress, analysts say.