Erdogan: Turkey received neither F-35 nor paid money from US

Turkey has not received from the United States either the promised F-35 fighters or the money paid for them. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke about this.

According to him, there were people on the other side of the ocean who threatened Ankara because of the purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems, but did not offer anything in return. Now Turkey is trying to get F-16s instead of the promised F-35s. And along the way, it also encounters resistance.

“We were promised F-35 planes, but they did not keep their word. Although we paid about $1 billion 400 million. There are no planes and the money has not been returned. We always keep our word and expect this from our partners”– the agency quotes Erdogan Anadolu.

Earlier, Washington excluded Ankara from the F-35 fighter supply program as a punishment for buying Russian S-400s. According to Erdogan, Turkey was offered to supply aircraft of the previous generation F-16. However, the deal has many opponents in the US Congress.

Recall, on January 29, the head of the board of the Turkish manufacturer of drones Baykar, Seljuk Bayraktar, said that buyers of F-35 fighters will not be able to use them without US permission.