During a hearing on July 9, U.S. Senator James Risch, R-Idaho, stated that he will continue to obstruct the transfer of Lockheed Martin F-35s acquired by Turkey indefinitely.
Risch, head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stated that he was the lawmaker who put a stop to delivering six completed Turkish F-35s, as ordered by Turkey, effectively ruling out such a transfer.
U.S. Senator Turkey’s F-35 Return Amid Ongoing Dispute
During a hearing on July 9, US Senator James Risch, R-Idaho, stated that he will continue to obstruct the transfer of Lockheed Martin F-35s acquired by Turkey indefinitely.
Risch, head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stated that he was the lawmaker who put a stop to delivering six completed F-35As ordered by Turkey, effectively ruling out such a transfer.
“We are not giving up on Turkey’s F-35s. “We are discussing our intention to return to the program with our counterparts,” Erdoğan stated on June 26 after attending the NATO Summit. “We discussed the issue during our meeting with Mr. Trump, and technical discussions have begun.” “God willing, we will make progress.”
In 2000, the United States barred Turkey from the program due to Erdoğan’s acquisition of Russian S-400 air and missile defense systems.
In addition to violating the Countering American Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, the agreement triggered Section 1245 of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2020, which expressly restricts the sale of Turkey’s F-35 jets to Turkey owing to the deployment of Russian S-400 batteries.
Until the prohibition, Turkey was one of the main F-35 clients, with Turkish companies playing a significant part in the F-35 supply chain. At the time the ban was imposed, Lockheed had finished six F-35As ordered by Turkey, but the aircraft were still in the United States.
“As far as Turkey is concerned, I’m the one that put the hold on the F-35s and the F-35s they bought and paid for still sitting in the United States,” according to Risch.
Guilfoyle stated that as ambassador in Athens, she will follow Trump’s policy, but she supports the reasons for Turkey’s F-35 prohibition. “There are choices that people in countries make in life, and Turkey has chosen to work with the Russians with the S-400s,” according to Guilfoyle.
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