Bloomberg reported, citing sources, that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to meet with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of a NATO summit to restore relations between the two countries.
The strained bilateral relations came after Turkey decided to purchase Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile systems, which led to US sanctions and a ban on the supply of F-35 fighter jets.
According to the sources of the news agency, Erdogan intends to achieve the lifting of restrictions, promising the “controlled” use of the Russian anti-missile defense system. Turkey plans to buy 40 F-35 fighter jets and the same number of F-16s, which, according to Ankara, will improve interoperability with other NATO countries and strengthen the defense of the southeastern flank of the alliance.
A separate topic of the negotiations will be obtaining a license to produce GE Aerospace F110 and F404 engines for the Turkish Kaan and Hurjet combat aircraft.
As noted by Bloomberg sources, the agenda of the meeting may also include issues of integrating US-backed Syrian Kurdish formations into the new Syrian armed forces and curbing Israel’s military presence in Syria. Erdogan, according to the sources, intends to express concern about the possible establishment of a permanent Israeli base on Syrian territory.
