British Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed a deal on Monday in which Türkiye bought 20 Eurofighter Typhoon jets for 8 billion pounds ($10.7 billion), his office said, deepening the NATO allies' defence ties and bolstering Turkish air defences.
In July, Türkiye and Britain had signed a preliminary purchase deal for 40 Typhoons approved by Eurofighter consortium members including Germany, Italy and Spain, represented by Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo.
Starmer met President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Monday to sign the agreement, which comes as Türkiye seeks to leverage the advanced warplanes to make up ground with regional rivals such as Israel, which has unleashed strikes across the Middle East this year.
Türkiye, enjoying its warmest ties with the West in years, has sought to procure the Eurofighters and also potentially U.S.-made F-35s to backstop its ageing fleet of mostly F-16s.
TURKEY HAS NATO'S SECOND BIGGEST MILITARY
Europe has increasingly turned to Turkey, NATO's second-largest military and a major exporter of armed drones, to reinforce its eastern flank and potentially backstop any future post-war stabilisation force in Ukraine.
Last week, citing a person familiar with the matter, Reuters reported that Turkey was nearing a deal in which it would promptly receive 12 Typhoons, albeit used, from previous buyers Qatar and Oman to meet its immediate needs, with more new jets coming from Britain in future years.
Last week, Erdogan visited Qatar and Oman in part to discuss the plan.
Turkey, which wants to fill a gap before its own KAAN fighters are ready in coming years, opened talks on obtaining the Typhoons in 2023. Last year Ankara secured a $7-billion deal with Washington for 40 F-16s that have faced delays.
Air attacks by Israel - the region's most advanced military power with hundreds of U.S.-supplied F-15, F-16 and F-35 fighters - on Turkey's neighbours Iran and Syria, as well as on Lebanon and Qatar, have unnerved Ankara over the past year and persuaded it to revamp its defences, officials said.
The visit marked Starmer's first to Turkey since taking office last year.
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German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius on Friday suggested a potential link between recent drone incidents in Belgium and discussions surrounding the...
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Serbia's parliament passed a law on Friday designed to accelerate the development of a luxury complex in Belgrade, leased to an investment company founded by Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law.
Azerbaijan has no plans to deploy peacekeepers to Gaza unless there is a complete cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas, an Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry official told Reuters on Friday.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius on Friday suggested a potential link between recent drone incidents in Belgium and discussions surrounding the use of frozen Russian assets, held by Belgian financial institution Euroclear, to fund a substantial loan to Ukraine.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated on Friday that while Iran seeks peace, it will not be pressured into abandoning its nuclear and missile programmes, according to state media reports.
More than 10,000 supporters of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic rallied in Belgrade on Wednesday to show their backing for the populist leader’s policies, following a year of anti-government demonstrations.
Israel launched airstrikes on southern Lebanon after ordering evacuations, accusing Hezbollah of rebuilding its forces despite a year-old ceasefire, as Lebanon and the United Nations warned of renewed border tensions.
U.S. President Donald Trump personally urged Chinese leader Xi Jinping to release imprisoned Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai during their meeting in South Korea last week, according to three individuals briefed on the discussions and a U.S. administration official.
U.S. Senate Republicans have blocked a resolution that would have barred President Donald Trump from launching military action against Venezuela without congressional approval, despite growing concern over recent U.S. strikes in the southern Caribbean.
The driver who rammed his car into a crowd in western France on Wednesday is suspected of "self-radicalisation" and had "explicit religious references" at home, the country's Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Thursday.
Serbia's parliament passed a law on Friday designed to accelerate the development of a luxury complex in Belgrade, leased to an investment company founded by Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law.
Azerbaijan has no plans to deploy peacekeepers to Gaza unless there is a complete cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas, an Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry official told Reuters on Friday.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius on Friday suggested a potential link between recent drone incidents in Belgium and discussions surrounding the use of frozen Russian assets, held by Belgian financial institution Euroclear, to fund a substantial loan to Ukraine.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated on Friday that while Iran seeks peace, it will not be pressured into abandoning its nuclear and missile programmes, according to state media reports.
Explosions at a mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia, during Friday prayers have left dozens injured, with officials suggesting it could have been an attack. A 17-year-old student has been identified as the suspected perpetrator.
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