Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Gurel met with his British counterpart Grand Sharp today in Ankara. On the agenda of the talks was, among other things, Turkey’s request for the purchase of fighter aircraft.

“We would like to develop our existing cooperation with the United Kingdom in many areas, mainly regarding our national fighter aircraft, KAAN, as well as in new areas, such as Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets,” the Turkish defense minister said after the meeting , stressing that “we jointly expressed our determination to further strengthen our bilateral military cooperation”.

Yasar Güler, speaking on November 16 in the Turkish Parliament, had confirmed that, following the “wreck” in the bid to acquire US F-35s, talks are underway with the UK and Spain over the European fighter jetsand that both countries are trying to bend Germany’s objections.

For his part, the British Defense Minister confirmed that during the meeting, the Turkish new generation fighter jet TFX (KAAN) program and Turkey’s request to acquire the Eurofighter Typhoon were discussed.

“We discussed many areas of mutual cooperation. Our relationships are very important to the UK. We are two experienced countries fighting terrorism the right way. Therefore, our cooperation has a great depth,” he noted.

Grand Sapps also stated that due to conflicts, both in Europe and the Middle East, the world is much less stable than it has been for several years. Guler and Saps signed a Declaration of Intent for Defense Cooperation between Turkey and Britain.