Erdogan under fire from opposition, media over procurement of American fighter jets

Following his meetings with US President Joe Biden Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has come under fire from the opposition Republican People’s Party and a segment of the Turkish media over his failure to secure a US commitment on how Ankara will recoup the $1.4bn that it has paid for the purchase of American next-generation F-35 joint strike fighter jets.

The US removed Turkey from the programme due to its purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems, which infuriated the US Congress and the government.

Erdogan reportedly also complained to Macron about his sale to Greece of French Belharra frigate and Rafale fighter jets, which he said, according to Greek media reports, that Athens cannot afford as it has a debt of 300bn euros.

All about Russia

In July, 2019, a White House statement explained its decision to kick Turkey out of the F-35 programme in detail.

“Turkey’s decision to purchase Russian S-400 air defense systems renders its continued involvement with the F-35 impossible. The F-35 cannot coexist with a Russian intelligence collection platform that will be used to learn about its advanced capabilities,” the statement read.

“Turkey has been a longstanding and trusted partner and NATO Ally for over 65 years, but accepting the S-400 undermines the commitments all NATO Allies made to each other to move away from Russian systems.»

The uncertain F-16s alternative, opposition criticism

Erdogan discussed with Biden Ankara’s proposal to recoup its money by purchasing 40 F-16 fighters and by securing kits for the upgrade of its existing fleet of F-16.

Biden was reportedly non-committal as authorisation of the deal lies with Congress, in which anger with Turkey runs strong. The Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations, Robert Menendez, has been the staunchest critic of Turkey and has repeatedly urged the White House to take tough measures against Ankara.

The parliamentary representative of the secularist Republican People’s Party, established by the founder of the Turkish Republic, Kemal Ataturk, declared that Erogan has made his country a “laughing stock through his mishandling of the procurement deals.

Media slams Erdogan: F-35s as ‘Biggest fiasco’

There has also been harsh media criticism of Erdogan. Turkey’s Fox television described Ankara’s expulsion from the F-35 programme as an unprecedented fiasco.

“We received the [Russian] S-400s which we are not using and lost the F-35s, of which we were co-producers,” it reported.

“What occurred was the biggest fiasco for Turkey’s foreign and defence policy,” the newscast stated.

Media concern over US base in Alexandroupolis

Erdogan reportedly complained to Biden about the US-Greece decision in the recently signed Mutual Defence Cooperation Agreement (MDCA) to establish a military base in the port city of Alexandroupolis, 20 kilometres from the Greek-Turkish border. The new base has been described as “Souda 2”, referring to the very large and strategically crucial American military base in Souda Bay Crete.

The new base has drawn negative attention in the Turkish press, with the daily Sabah reporting that “The base in Alexandroupolis disturbs the Turkish people”.

The front page of the pro-government newspapaer Yeni Safak spoke of “The issue of Alexandroupolis”.

The annoyance derives from the base’s proximity to the Greek-Turkish border.

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