02.07.2026 21:20
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan gave good news ahead of US President Trump's visit to Ankara for the NATO summit. Stating that the talks with Washington are progressing positively, Minister Fidan noted that there is will to lift the sanctions, saying, "The ban on F-35 sales could be lifted. CAATSA sanctions could be lifted."
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan made important statements regarding relations between the two countries ahead of US President Donald Trump's visit to Ankara for the NATO summit. In his statement on CNN Türk's live broadcast, Minister Fidan said that the talks with Washington are progressing positively and that there is a will on the US side to lift sanctions against Turkey.
FIDAN: THERE IS A WILL TO LIFT SANCTIONS
Fidan said, "The ban on F-35 sales may be lifted. There is a will to lift CAATSA sanctions. Everyone sees how constructive and stabilizing a role Turkey plays in many areas. Therefore, this role actually creates many reasons for a country like the United States, which takes on more than its fair share of global burden, to trust partners like Turkey at certain points."
S-400 TENSION HAD AFFECTED THE PROCESS
After Turkey purchased S-400 air defense systems from Russia in 2019, some members of the US Congress objected to defense industry sales to Ankara.
Reuters reported in a news article published by the Trump administration on Wednesday that it was determined to proceed with this sale. The latest official notification to Congress stood out as the most concrete step taken despite objections stemming from the S-400.
TRUMP: I WILL DO SOMETHING THAT WILL MAKE ERDOĞAN VERY HAPPY
US President Donald Trump made striking statements regarding Turkey during a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House.
Trump responded to a question about whether he would bring good news to Ankara regarding the sale of jet engines and F-35s to Turkey by saying: "I think I will. Turkey is a NATO member. Some don't see it that way, but it actually is. It is a strong member of NATO. Yes, I will probably do something that will make him (President Erdoğan) very happy."
WHAT ARE CAATSA SANCTIONS?
The CAATSA sanctions imposed by the US on Turkey are economic restrictions enacted in December 2020 on the grounds that Turkey purchased S-400 air defense systems from Russia. Under these sanctions, granting US export licenses for the transfer of goods and technology to the SSB was prohibited, access to credit from American and international financial institutions was restricted, and the assets of the then-SSB President and some senior bureaucrats in the US were frozen, along with visa bans being imposed.