President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a phone call with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday to discuss bilateral ties, regional and global issues, as well as defense and trade cooperation.
The leaders reviewed recent progress on Türkiye’s potential procurement of Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets, according to a statement by the Presidency’s Directorate of Communications.
The two sides expressed optimism that developments in this area would further strengthen defense cooperation between Ankara and London, the statement said.
Türkiye has been in negotiations to acquire up to 40 Eurofighters to enhance its air force. The jets are built by a consortium of Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain, represented by companies Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo.
While the U.K. has been eager to proceed with the sale and all manufacturing partners except Germany have expressed support, the deal has remained stalled for months.
But officials have recently voiced progress in negotiations.
Erdoğan on Sunday said Britain and Germany showed a "positive" stance on Türkiye's potential purchase of Eurofighters, stressing that Ankara wants to finalize the acquisition as soon as possible.
On Tuesday, Erdoğan also told Starmer that he hopes that negotiations to update the free trade agreement (FTA) between Türkiye and the United Kingdom would conclude within this year, the statement said.
The sides have completed the first round of talks on modernizing the agreement, the Turkish Trade Ministry said on Friday.
The current agreement, signed when Britain left the European Union, has been under review to expand its scope. Talks were paused during last year's election that saw Labour Party return to government after 14 years in opposition.
The annual trade volume between the two countries reached $22 billion in 2024, with the U.K. ranking as Türkiye's seventh-largest trading partner. Türkiye runs a trade surplus of $8 billion.
During the phone call, Erdoğan also raised concerns over the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, stressing that deaths from starvation could not be prevented and that immediate and unhindered access to humanitarian aid must be ensured, according to the statement.
