"We have been in that program, including some joint production, production of the parts of F-35s in Turkey," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told PBS earlier this month.
By Ryan Browne for CNN, Updated 0542 GMT (1342 HKT) June 20, 2018 Washington (CNN)Despite opposition from the US Congress, Turkey is set to receive its first F-35 Joint Strike Fighters on Thursday during a ceremony in Fort Worth, Texas, the Pentagon said Tuesday. "Lockheed Martin will hold a rollout ceremony for Turkey this Thursday in Fort Worth, and the two jets will follow-on to Luke Air Force Base in Arizona at a later date," Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Mike Andrews told CNN. "Turkish F-35 pilots and maintainers have arrived at Luke Air Force Base and will begin flight academics soon," he added. Although Turkey has long been a participant in the development of the F-35 program, the US Senate had sought to block Turkey from receiving the stealth warplanes through language in the National Defense Authorization Act amid a deterioration of the US-Turkey relationship. The Senate's version of the defense bill expressed concern over Ankara's planned purchase of the S-400 anti-aircraft system from Russia and what it labeled Turkey's unlawful and wrongful detention of Andre Brunson, a US citizen. Many US officials have expressed concern that a major Russian military system like the S-400 would be incompatible with the NATO systems used by Turkey's alliance partners. […] https://edition.cnn.com/2018/06/19/pol ... ess-opposition/index.html
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