- Nineteen prisoners use cutlery to break out of cells at Winchester prison
- France wants progress in Ukraine before Russia returns to G7
- Italy president begins talks to seek way out of government crisis
- Italian PM expected to resign as political chaos deepens
- Russia says US cruise missile test ‘regrettable’
- Kremlin - No date set for Normandy talks on Ukraine despite Macron meeting
- Egypt court hands out 6 death sentences on terror charges
- Putin says Russian nuclear explosion poses no threat
- Russian panel eyes alleged foreign interference in protests
- Gran Canaria wildfire triggers evacuation of thousands of people
- PM Johnson calls on Germany and France to compromise on Brexit
- Sudan's ex-president Bashir arrives at corruption trial
TEHRAN, Jun 22 - The United States cannot unilaterally remove Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program as the partnership agreement does not allow it, Turkey's head of Defense Industries Directorate said on Friday.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - "No single country can say they don't want you and then remove you from the program," Ismail Demir told reporters.
"This isn't part of the agreement, this isn't something you can just say 'I exclude you' about. The F-35 project is a partnership and nowhere in the agreement does it allow a unilateral removal of one country," he said.
Ankara and Washington have been at loggerheads for months over Turkey's planned purchase of Russian S-400 missile defense system. The United States says the S-400s are incompatible with NATO's defense network and could compromise its F-35 fighter jets, an aircraft Turkey is helping build and planning to buy.
In a letter to Turkey, the Pentagon has warned Ankara will be pulled out of the F-35 program unless it changes course. Washington has already stopped accepting more Turkish pilots for training in the U.S. and halted delivery of equipment related to the program.
The United States says Turkey's S-400 acquisition poses a threat to Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35s. It has threatened to impose sanctions on Ankara under its Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), the possibility of which has spooked investors and helped cause a selloff in the lira this year.
Demir said such sanctions could have a brief impact on Turkey's defense industry. "Our defense industry produces parts for the F-35, so in the event of sanctions being imposed, our industry would experience a rough patch, but we'll then get passed this," he said.
Source: Reuters
Your Comment