ANKARA

Türkiye plans to buy 40 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets, National Defense Minister Yasar Guler said Thursday.

"We want to buy Eurofighter. It is a very effective aircraft. These aircraft are related to the UK, Germany and Spain,” he told parliament. "Both the UK and Spain say 'yes', and now they are working to persuade Germany. The UK and Spain say: 'We will solve that problem'. If solved, we plan to purchase 40 Eurofighter jets,"

He said F-16 and F-4 jets that are in the Turkish Air Force inventory are sufficient for the tasks Türkiye will conduct.

"But of course, we are looking beyond. For this, we applied for the F-35, but some problems arose with the F-35. We are also working on alternatives," said Guler.

The US suspended Türkiye from the F-35 fighter jet program in 2019 after objecting to Ankara buying the Russian S-400 missile defense system, claiming the Russian system would endanger the fighter jets.

Türkiye has said repeatedly that there is no conflict between the two systems and proposed a commission to study the issue. Türkiye also said it fulfilled its obligations for the F-35s and its suspension was against the rules.

Turning to the F-16 fighter jets purchase from the US, Guler said: "To modernize our F-16s, we will purchase 40 ready-made F-16 Block 70 Vipers and modernize 79 of them at Turkish Aerospace Industry (TUSAS)."

Separately, Türkiye made a request to Washington in 2021 for 40 F-16 jets and modernization kits. The State Department informally notified Congress of the potential sale.

Ankara maintains that the jets would strengthen not only Türkiye but NATO.

*Writing by Diyar Guldogan from Washington