US President Donald Trump’s administration has maintained that Turkey does not currently meet the criteria necessary for purchasing F-35 fighter jets from the United States.

The US State Department made the revelation in a letter it sent to Republican Rep. Wesley Bell during the past week. Bell had reached out to the White House inquiring about the matter after Trump indicated during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he was inclined to back the long-stalled F-35 sale.

Turkey joined a multinational program to purchase F-35 fighter jets from the United States, but was removed from it in 2020 over its purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems.

The S-400 purchase initiated US sanctions of Turkey under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). While Trump announced in his July 7 meeting with Erdogan that he would be lifting those sanctions, the State Department letter indicated that this has yet to happen.

“Our policy regarding Turkey’s purchase of F-35s remains unchanged and fully consistent with Section 231 of the CAATSA and section 1245 of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (FY 2020 NDAA),” read the letter to Bell.

“This includes resolving the S-400 issue by Turkey no longer possessing the system or associated equipment, providing assurances against its future acquisition, and meeting the other statutory certification requirements,” the letter continued.

“Turkey has not yet met these conditions,” it added, while........

© The Times of Israel