US sanctions against Turkiye’s defense sector over its purchase of a Russian air defense system are probably completed by the end of the year, the US envoy to Ankara said Sunday.
Talking to state news agency AnadoluTom Barrack said US President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan would instruct their top diplomats to “find out the way and end it, and Congress will support an intelligent solution”.
With both sides required to draw a line under the dispute that has pulled on for five years, the question could be resolved within six months, Barrack said.
“My belief is that at the end of the year we have the opportunity to have a solution, my belief is that they will solve the problem,” he said.
Washington introduced sanctions against Ankara in 2020 over her purchase of an S-400 Russian Surface-to-Air Defense System under a 2017 law known as Caatsa aimed at limiting Russia’s military influence.
It also started Turkiye out of his F-35 program, in which Washington said the presence of the S-400 would allow the Russians to collect information about the stealth jet’s capabilities-a further acidic bond between NATO allies.
“All these things that have been discussed in five years, F-35S, F-16S, S400S, sanctions, customs … probably. We have to put it aside and Congress is willing to see another look,” Barrack said.
In March, Erdogan talked to Trump about the need to end an appointment to let Turkiye buy us F-16 fighters and be remunerated to the F-35 Warplanes development program.
And last month he said he was looking at an end in sight of the sanctions and said Turkiye had seen them relieved under Trump.
On Tuesday, Erdogan Trump met on the sidelines of a NATO summit in The Hague and called for increased defense industry cooperation with Washington, which he said could increase trade between them significantly.
“Promoting cooperation in the defense industry would facilitate the reach of a $ 100 billion trading volume,” he said.
Turkiye, who wants to modernize his Air Force, has also tried to buy 40 Eurofighter types built by a four-nation consortium of Germany, the UK, Spain and Italy.
