Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said he was "optimistic" about the chances for a positive decision by Washington on the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Ankara.
He was speaking in an interview with The Financial Times, Report informs.
He noted that the issue of selling the F-16 is moving forward with great difficulty because Turkiye had acquired four divisions of S-400 air defense systems from Russia worth $2.5 billion.
"We want to increase the capabilities of our armed forces, and the US wants NATO countries to spend more on defense, but they impose restrictions on what military equipment we can acquire," the minister said.
He noted that Ankara seeks to equalize relations with Washington, since the US is Turkiye's "strategic partner" and the two countries have the same "goals and values." In this regard, he called on the US to “get out of the vicious circle” and stop supporting the Kurdish YPG, which, according to Akar, can create a “corridor for terrorism that can turn into a political formation that would threaten the division of Syria and the emergence of instability" not only in Turkiye but throughout the Middle East."