Erdogan: Priority is to fulfil Turkey’s F-16 request

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said his country is closely monitoring the process for the of the procurement of F-16 fighter jets from the United States to get swift results.

"Our priority is to fulfil Turkey's F-16 request. There may be different situations in subordinate matters, but we do not want to put monetary relations on our agenda," Erdogan told journalists on his return flight from Washington, DC, where he attended a NATO leaders' summit this week.

"If these aircraft and parts come to us, we already have sufficient technical staff. All of our labs are very successful in modernizing the F-16s," he added.

The Turkish president said that in their last meeting, US President Joe Biden pledged to solve "the F-16 problem within 3-4 weeks."