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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Britain and Germany showed a “positive” stance on Türkiye’s potential purchase of Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets, stressing that Ankara wants to finalize the acquisition as soon as possible.
Türkiye has been in negotiations to acquire up to 40 Eurofighters to enhance its air force. The jets are built by a consortium of Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain, represented by companies Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo.
While the U.K. has been eager to proceed with the sale and all manufacturing partners except Germany have expressed support, the deal has remained stalled for months.
“The British and Germans are approaching this positively. God willing, I believe we will receive our jet planes as soon as possible,” Erdoğan was cited as telling reporters on a flight from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
“In my meetings with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, I saw they also approached the issue positively and hopefully we will take this step,” he said, according to a transcript of his comments published on Monday.
Erdoğan held talks with Starmer and Merz last month at the NATO summit and had said there were “positive developments” on the issue.
Last week, BAE Systems said it was confident about winning new orders for Eurofighters from countries such as Türkiye, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Türkiye, despite boasting NATO’s second-largest army, has often in the past faced arms embargoes. That pushed it to significantly boost domestic capabilities and curb foreign dependence over the last two decades.
Today, it produces a wide range of vehicles and arms types domestically, including its own drones, missiles and naval vessels. It’s also developing its own fifth-generation fighter jet, named Kaan.
Kaan is sought to replace the Air Force Command’s aging F-16 fleet, which is planned to be phased out starting in the 2030s. Its mass production is expected to start in 2028.
