Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said in New York that Erdoğan and Trump shared a constructive view on overcoming CAATSA-related obstacles, expressing optimism about resolving long-standing defence issues.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met members of the Turkish press in New York following the United Nations 80th General Assembly and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s meeting with US President Donald Trump. He said the two leaders showed a positive alignment on the need to remove hurdles in bilateral relations, particularly those linked to CAATSA sanctions.
Fidan stressed that CAATSA stands in contradiction to the spirit of the NATO alliance and emphasised that Ankara and Washington should work more closely. He recalled that Türkiye’s plan to procure 80 F110-GE-129 engines for the KAAN fighter programme has been stalled under CAATSA. He underlined that lifting CAATSA would ease defence trade. He shared the US interest in importing Baykar’s technology.
Fidan voiced optimism that these restrictions can be overcome, noting that Türkiye is also considering alternative solutions.
From TurDef’s perspective, the Turkish Air Force does not seek stealth capability in the first 40 KAAN aircraft. The immediate goal is to bridge the capability gap until the indigenous TF35000 fifth-generation engine matures. Using familiar and proven engines as an interim measure would allow the Air Force to maintain operational continuity while advancing its domestic propulsion programme. TurDef believes that there are other alternatives such as re-purposing engines from its F-16 fleet or sourcing second-hand variants of F110-GE-129 powerplants originally designed for the twin-engine F-15.
Fidan has not underlined, but there are other projects have suffered as well, notably the T70 utility helicopters produced under a Sikorsky licence, which have faced T700 engine delivery delays.
