US President Donald Trump has responded positively when asked about lifting US sanctions on Türkiye under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), without announcing a decision.
“I’ll always speak to President Erdogan. He is a friend of mine, as you know. And I’ll always make him happy,” Trump said when asked what was holding up the removal of the sanctions.
Trump said during a meeting with Erdogan on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Türkiye in July that he wanted to lift the CAATSA sanctions and would “certainly” consider allowing Ankara to purchase F-35 fighter jets.
The US removed Türkiye from the F-35 programme in 2019 after Ankara acquired the Russian S-400 air defence system.
Washington said the system posed a security risk to the F-35 and was incompatible with NATO systems.
In December 2020, the US imposed CAATSA sanctions on Türkiye’s defence industry and several senior officials over the S-400 purchase.
Türkiye says it purchased the Russian system to meet urgent air defence needs after being denied US-made Patriot missiles and has repeatedly rejected Washington’s concerns over the S-400 and F-35.
The dispute has remained a major issue in US-Türkiye defence ties, with Ankara seeking the removal of the sanctions and its return to the F-35 programme.
Trump pledged to lift the sanctions earlier this year
“We’re going to be taking the sanctions off. It’s time to do that… we don't want to sanction friends. It's very simple,” Trump said.
