New move from the US for KAAN's jet engine: Ahead of the NATO summit

The British news agency Reuters has suggested that the US administration plans to advance the sales process for dozens of jet engines to Turkey ahead of the NATO Summit that Ankara will host on July 7-8.

It was stated that the engines in question, produced by the US-based company General Electric, are planned to be used for KAAN, the first indigenous fighter jet, which is part of Turkey's goal to reduce foreign dependency in the field of defense.

In the report, which was based on four sources familiar with the matter, it was claimed that the US administration under President Donald Trump is preparing to advance the approval process for the sale of engines worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Turkey, despite objections in the US Congress. While it was suggested that the sale is expected to be completed in the coming days, one of the sources claimed that the value of the package would be over 700 million dollars.

It was noted that Gregory Meeks, the ranking Democrat on the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, had objected to the sale during the informal review process and had not approved the package. The US Department of State did not comment on the matter.

It was suggested that the decision on the sale came after a public statement made by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan about a year ago regarding the slow progress of the process.

The US had removed Turkey from the F-35 program

Although relations between the US and Turkey were considered good during the Trump era, the Washington administration's removal of Turkey from the F-35 fifth-generation stealth fighter jet program and the imposition of sanctions due to the Russian-made S-400 air defense systems had increased tensions in the relations between the two countries. US officials argue that the S-400s pose a security risk.

At the NATO summit that Turkey will host, it is expected that defense spending within the alliance, burden sharing, and the US's complaints regarding the role of allies in keeping the Strait of Hormuz open during the war with Iran will be addressed.

News Source: 12punto