Erdoğan: Turkey to Look Elsewhere if US Remains Uncompromising on F-35s

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President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said he told his US counterpart Donald Trump that Turkey would be forced to "look elsewhere" to satisfy its defense needs if the uncompromising stance of the US regarding the F-35 fighter jets continued.

Turkey was excluded from the F-35 program in July after it refused to cancel the procurement of the S-400 air defense systems from Russia.

"We said that if the current disagreement on F-35 fighter jets continues, Turkey must look elsewhere to meet medium-term needs," Erdoğan told the AKP's parliamentary group about the meeting he had with Trump in Washington on November 13.

Underlining that Turkey was a partner in the production of F-35 fighter jets, Erdoğan said, "We are not a customer, we are a partner."

The US maintains that the system could be used by Russia to covertly obtain classified details on the jet and is incompatible with NATO systems.

Turkey, however, counters that the S-400 would not be integrated into NATO systems and would not pose a threat to the alliance.

Erdoğan also slammed accusations against Turkey in the US that Ankara was hostile towards Kurds.

"We are not against our Kurdish brothers, we are against the PKK, PYD and YPG, which are terror groups," said Erdoğan. "Those trying to show the separatist terror group as fighting against Daesh [ISIS] now try to hide that group's civilian massacres."

"Turkey is aware that the engagement between the US and terror group in Syria will not end soon," he added.

"Notably in Syria and northern Iraq, our fight will continue until all terror threats towards our country end and the last terrorists neutralized," he said. (TP/VK)