Bipartisan Skepticism in Washington About Efforts to Allow Turkey to Buy F-35 Fighter Jets

The Biden administration is reportedly working to broker a deal that would reopen the pathway for Turkey to purchase cutting-edge F-35 fighter jets, a prospect that is raising bipartisan skepticism from some lawmakers, as others see such a sale as a way to incentivize better behavior from Ankara.

The discussions come as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan escalates his rhetoric against Israel, including expressing support for Hamas and threatening to invade or attack Israel. Turkey has also been increasingly hostile toward the NATO alliance and its efforts to counter Russia.

Ankara has been barred from acquiring the top-of-the-line fighter jet and placed under U.S. sanctions since its 2017 purchase of a Russian S-400 missile system. Experts warn the S-400’s radar systems could compromise sensitive technology and details of the F-35 if operated in the same airspace. Reports indicate that, under the deal in discussion, Turkey would be allowed to buy F-35s if it transfers the Russian hardware to a U.S.-controlled area at an airbase in Turkey.

“It is being talked about. We’re at a point where it’s a consideration, and then we’re going to have to make a decision,” a Senate Intelligence Committee member familiar with the matter told Jewish Insider.

Pressed on whether such a deal would require the U.S., or possibly Ukraine, to be able to inspect the S-400, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) responded, “Well, Turkey has access to one — you’re getting warm.”

The State Department indicated that the administration does still want to see Turkey become part of the program but didn’t confirm the specific details of current talks.

“The requirements for Türkiye to procure the F-35 are well known, and our policy has not changed,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement to JI. “Türkiye’s continued NATO interoperability remains a critical US priority.”

The spokesperson added, “we look forward to resolving this [sanctions] issue with Türkiye in a productive manner” and remain “committed to robustly implementing … sanctions to deter arms export transactions that bring Russia revenue, access and influence.”

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) told JI any movement on the F-35s should be predicated, at minimum, on Turkey’s greater cooperation with efforts to release the Israeli and American hostages held in Gaza.

“We know that they have influence with Hamas as well, and so until we start to see the return of our American hostages from Israel, I don’t think we should be visiting with Turkey about any of these issues,” Ernst said.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) said he’s “skeptical” about the prospect of allowing Turkey to buy the advanced jets.

“That doesn’t mean unalterably, unequivocally, ‘no’ under any circumstance,” Kaine said. “But I would start with some real skepticism. I mean — even just the Erdogan comment about Hamas the other day … So I would be skeptical.”

In an interview with NBC News, Erdogan said, “I never called Hamas a terrorist organization. I don’t approach Hamas as a terrorist organization,” instead calling it a “resistance group.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) told JI that the U.S. should “consider very carefully what the downsides are.”

“We want to hold NATO together and strengthen it, but there have been problems with Turkey as an ally and in terms of human rights and democracy, and I think we ought to consider very carefully what the negatives are before we do,” Blumental said.

McCaul said that any deal should be predicated on “what Turkey does in exchange for that — and then I can’t get into what that is.”

McCaul said that his openness to the deal “depends on how well they cooperate with NATO,” noting that the U.S. had effectively conditioned the recent sale of less-advanced F-16 jets to Turkey on Ankara allowing Sweden to join NATO. But he said that the F-35s should not be co-produced in Turkey, as was initially planned before Turkey acquired the S-400.

“So [it] depends on what else they do,” McCaul said. “It’s a good way to motivate, and we don’t want to see them buy it from other countries like Russia.”

Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE), who proposed sanctioning Turkey over hostile moves against Israel, suggested that the F-35s could serve as an enticement to Turkey to change its posture toward Israel.

“I believe that we ought to work with our allies to help them support Israel and work [on] ways to” convince allies to be more supportive of Israel, Ricketts said. “I don’t know if this is specifically a way to do it.”

Pressed on Turkey’s open hostility toward the Jewish state, he responded, “that’s where I think we have to work on opportunities to be able to get Turkey back onto supporting Israel.”

Some in Washington are skeptical that a sale would actually go forward.

Bradley Bowman, the senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former national security advisor to members of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, said he’s “very, very confident… that you would have a bipartisan majority in at least one chamber, if not both chambers, working to stop this.”

Blaise Misztal, the vice president for policy at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, also noted that legal prohibitions on Turkey obtaining F-35s as long as it maintains possession of the S-400 remain in force. He said that prohibition might not be resolved by the agreement as reported publicly.

Bowman and Misztal both argued that the presence of the S-400 was just one concern about Turkey acquiring the Russian system: “The bigger issue is the S-400 purchase was demonstrative of a Turkish turn away from the West, and willingness and even desire to work with U.S. adversaries,” Misztal said.

That broader pattern, Misztal continued, would remain the same even if the specific issue of the S-400 is resolved. Both Bowman and Misztal pointed to a series of incidents of Turkey deviating from U.S. interests and priorities and aligning with U.S. adversaries, including its increasingly aggressive rhetoric toward Israel.

Misztal and Bowman also said they’re skeptical that Turkey would honor a deal to give up control of the S-400, with Misztal warning that Turkey could breach the agreement and retake control of the Russian system down the road once it has received the F-35s.

“Whoever the staffer is that apparently thought this was a good idea, I think is clearly operating from a different worldview, a worldview that I think is fundamentally inconsistent with American national interests,” Bowman said. “This is an absolute no-brainer that, if this is being put forward by the administration, it will be on a top five, top 10 list of one of their worst decisions.”

Misztal argued that there’s no clear benefit to the U.S. in proceeding with the deal. He said the U.S. should demand a demonstrable step of “more strategic value” from Turkey to “show that it is fully in the NATO camp.”

“They haven’t changed their behavior and they’re not offering to help us with something,” Misztal said.

Bowman emphasized that the F-35 is the crown jewel of the U.S. and its allies’ arsenal, currently being used by Israel. He said it would be a key platform in any war between NATO countries and Russia, in the Taiwan Strait or between the U.S. and Iran, and that there should be a high bar to prove Turkey is worthy of it.

“We have to be very, very careful who we share that technology with,” Bowman said. ”The most advanced fighter aircraft in the world, that is fundamental to American deterrence, fundamental to the deterrence of our adversaries and fundamental to our security of our country’s key allies, like Israel — you don’t just give that to anyone.”

Misztal said a Turkish F-35 fleet would raise concerns for both Israel and for Greece, the airspace of which Turkey has violated repeatedly.

But he also said that U.S.-owned F-35s have different and greater capabilities than versions exported to other countries, and the Israeli versions of the jets have their own unique systems, “so it wouldn’t be a one-to-one comparison, necessarily, but it would certainly raise Turkey’s military power and air power significantly compared to where it is now.”

Originally published by Jewish Insider.