Turkey’s move to proceed with the purchase of Eurofighter from the United Kingdom, Qatar and Oman, apart from the fact that it is a compromise by Ankara after the “wreck” of its plan to acquire the American F-35, also sends a political message to Europe, showing that it wants to rewarm its relations with the bloc.
As the SKAI correspondent in Istanbul, Manolis Kostidis, notes, this political message that Turkey sends to the capitals of the European Union member countries and beyond, is perhaps more important than the Eurofighter purchase itself.
According to him, the purchase of Eurofighters by the United Kingdom, Qatar and Oman appears to have been a result of the Turkish Air Force compromising its original goals, as the plan was to purchase 100 F-35s at the beginning.
But due to Turkey’s exclusion from the F-35 program, Ankara’s second plan called for the purchase of 40 F-16s, the modernization of 80 F-16s, and perhaps at some point the purchase of the Eurofighter.
However, the plan changed again, after the US stopped buying the F-35 and now Turkey has decided to buy 40 Eurofighters.
With this purchase, as Manolis Kostidis reports, Turkey is sending a political message at the same time. It is the first time that it buys European designed and manufactured fighters for the Turkish Air Force.
In other words, at the time when Greece prevents Turkey from joining the European SAFE programs, Turkey comes and buys European fighters that are the result of the cooperation of many large European countries.
Source :Skai
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