About ten years ago, caricatures of “Sultan Erdoğan” were popular in the Western European press. President Tayyip Erdoğan, who was trying to pull the Turkish Republic into the orbit of Russia and Iran with a neo-Ottoman and political Islamist policy, was seen as the antithesis of the West. The antipathy was so strong that, during
Turkish Defense Minister Güler stated that due to shifting geopolitical dynamics, the US could reinstate Türkiye in the F-35 program despite its possession of Russian S-400 missiles. Turkish National Defense Minister Yaşar Güler announced that the US might readmit Türkiye to the F-35 sales program despite its possession of Russian-made S-400 missiles, confirming that a
The spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense (MND), Brig. Adm. Zeki Aktürk, announced that that a significant milestone has been achieved in the procurement of new F-16s from the United States. Admiral Aktürk stated on February 29 that the Ministry has received the ‘Draft Proposal and Acceptance Letters’ from the United States, regarding Türkiye’s
Germany’s national airline Lufthansa announced on December 19 that it signed a $9 billion deal with US aircraft manufacturer Boeing for the purchase of 100 aircraft and with Airbus for the purchase of 60 aircraft. Four days earlier, on December 15, Turkish Airlines (THY) announced that it had signed its largest-ever aircraft purchase agreement with
When German Chancellor Olaf Scholz telephoned President Tayyip Erdoğan on May 29 to congratulate him on his re-election and at the same time invited him, what he had in mind was not to further deteriorate, and perhaps even improve, relations with the leader of Türkiye, whom he sees as a “difficult partner” who will lead
Turkish National Defence Minister Yaşar Güler said Türkiye is considering to buy 40 Eurofighter jets ahead of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s tense Germany visit, raising number of questions. “We want to buy the Eurofighter. It is a very effective aircraft. These planes are related to the UK, Germany and Spain. Both the UK and Spain