Erdogan’s Turkey must not get the F-35
To sell Erdogan these fighters would irreparably harm American security.
To sell Erdogan these fighters would irreparably harm American security. This report comes from The Hill. The story centres on Erdogan’s Turkey must
Read Full Story at The Hill →Why This Matters
The debate over Turkey's potential acquisition of the F-35 isn't just about defense sales—it's a litmus test for U.S. strategic leverage in a region where alliances are increasingly transactional. Granting Ankara access to America's most advanced fighter would signal a dangerous normalization of Turkey's erratic foreign policy, rewarding its drift toward authoritarianism and regional aggression. At stake is whether Washington will prioritize short-term military partnerships over long-term security guarantees in a NATO context already strained by divergent interests.
Background Context
Turkey's purchase of the S-400 missile system from Russia in 2019 exposed deep fissures in NATO, as the alliance's second-largest military defied U.S. warnings about compromising F-35 interoperability. Ankara's subsequent exclusion from the F-35 program—despite its $1.4 billion investment—created a paradox: a NATO member now seeks to rejoin a program that was designed to integrate its forces with Western allies. The Biden administration faces mounting pressure to reverse course, but doing so would ignore the Pentagon's own assessments of the risks posed by Turkish control of critical stealth technology.
What Happens Next
Congress appears poised to block any F-35 sale to Turkey through legislative avenues, leaving Erdogan with few options beyond escalating his pivot to alternative arms suppliers like China or South Korea. The administration's deliberations will hinge on whether Ankara can guarantee the security of F-35 technology—a prospect undermined by its recent history of sharing sensitive military assets with unauthorized third parties. Meanwhile, European allies are watching closely, as any perceived U.S. concession to Turkey could further embolden its regional ambitions at the expense of regional stability.
Bigger Picture
This standoff reflects a broader erosion of trust in transatlantic defense cooperation, where NATO members increasingly view military procurement as a tool of leverage rather than alliance solidarity. The F-35 issue underscores how America's defense industrial base has become both a strategic asset and a vulnerability, forcing Washington to recalibrate the balance between deterrence and diplomatic pragmatism. As authoritarian regimes like Russia and China exploit these divisions, the F-35 decision may set a precedent for whether the U.S. can maintain technological superiority without sacrificing its principles in
