The US State Department said in a letter to Congress that Turkey still does not meet the conditions required for the purchase of F-35 fighters.
Modern.az reports that Fox News channel disseminated information citing the letter sent by the State Department to Congress on July 22.
The document states that according to US law, F-35 fighters cannot be delivered to Turkey as long as Turkey possesses Russian-made S-400 air defense systems and related equipment, and also if it does not commit to not acquiring these systems in the future and does not meet other certification requirements set by Congress.
The State Department emphasized in the letter that Turkey currently does not meet these requirements.
Turkey was removed from the F-35 program after purchasing four divisions of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems from Russia in 2017.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated after the NATO summit held on July 7-8 this year that US President Donald Trump had a positive attitude towards providing F-35 fighters to Turkey. Donald Trump, in turn, said that he was inclined to approve the sale, but emphasized that the final decision had not yet been made and the issue was being evaluated.
