There exist many treaties and deals between the U.S. and Turkey on defense industry cooperation, military technology transfer and weapons sales. One of the most important joint defense programs Turkey has contributed in this context is the production of F-35 jets.Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets cost $100 million each, and the Turkish Air Forces had planned to buy 116 of them. The first delivery was expected for June 21.
However, a U.S. Senate committee passed a bill including a measure to prevent Turkey from purchasing the jets. The bill is several steps from becoming law, as we don't know yet what the decision of the House of Representatives will be, nor if President Trump would sign it when the day comes. In any case, it is obvious that there are some people in Washington who hope to use the F-35 program as a tool to pressure Turkey.
The pressure is not only about purchasing the jets, as it was expected that Turkey would take care of the maintenance of all F-35 jets owned by NATO's European members. There are apparently a number of European countries that would be pleased to see Turkey ousted from the F-35 program.
The U.S. congressmen who sponsored the bill suggest that it would be too risky to transfer the F-35 technology to Turkey, as the latter has decided to buy the Russian S-400 missile defense system. In other words, they consider Turkey as a problematic NATO ally and pretend Turkey's direction is no longer compatible with the U.S.' long-term strategic interests.
It is not easy to know for sure if the U.S. Congress knows about the U.S.'s long-term strategic interests because they now have a president with strategic views impossible to foresee. For example, it is not possible to know whether or not the U.S. is friend or foe with Russia. If you look only at what President Trump is doing, the U.S. is the country that serves Russian interests more than anyone right now. Under these circumstances, it is odd to blame Turkey for trying to have balanced relations with Russia.
Moreover, these congressmen better make an effort to understand why Turkey needed to purchase the S-400 system. If they do, they may learn that Turkey's NATO allies have been quite reluctant in the past to install a Patriot missile defense system in Turkey, and when they did, they have pulled it back quite rapidly. Besides, the existing NATO missile defense shield in Europe doesn't protect the entire Turkish territory. So it is quite normal that Turkey is looking elsewhere to find what it needs.
The U.S.' attitude towards Turkey is very damaging for Turkish-American relations. This doesn't mean that Turkey is not supporting NATO's strategic aims anymore. The most recent proof on this has been the NATO naval maneuvers that took place last month in the Black Sea with Turkey's major contribution. We don't know if the U.S. wants to push Turkey towards Russia. This is a vital question, but the answer is not easy to give. It seems, however, that some European countries would prefer Turkey to have bad relations with the U.S., as they hope this will condemn Turkey to cooperate with Europe no matter what.
In other words, the crisis in Turkish-American relations is pleasing some European countries more than it does Russia. These European countries certainly had a role in this F-35 affair.Let's hope President Trump gives his decision about Turkey by taking strategic realities into account, and not the rising anti-Turkey rhetoric in Washington. He has to keep in mind that only common enemies will benefit from an environment where allied countries threaten one and other. In other words, a wrong decision about the F-35 sales will only make Iran, Daesh, Houthis or Boko Haram happy.
