Crackdown with Erdogan? Germany blocks sale of 40 Eurofighter jets to Turkey

The outgoing coalition government of the Social Democrats and the Greens in Germany has decided to block the sale of Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets to Turkey.

According to the German newspaper Handelsblatt, citing sources with knowledge of behind-the-scenes discussions in the outgoing government in Berlin, the most important reason for the halt to the sale of Eurofighters to Ankara is the imprisonment last month of Istanbul mayor and opponent of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ekrem Imamoglu, who faces corruption charges.

According to information leaked from German government circles, Berlin is sharply criticizing Erdogan, speaking of an "attack on Turkish democracy", which justifies the veto on the sale of Eurofighters, even though progress was made on this issue in confidential talks between Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the Turkish president in the fall.

According to Handelsblatt, the party of Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz is leaning more than the SPD in favor of approving the export of German fighters to Ankara, with circles from the two Christian Union parties (CDU/CSU) emphasizing that the interests of the states (Britain, Italy and Spain) must be taken into account when looking at co-production with Germany.

The Social Democrats counter that Merz should hold talks with Erdogan and use the Eurofighter issue as leverage to pressure Imamoglu to be released.

A German veto on the export of Eurofighters would be a blow to Turkey's efforts to urgently modernize its air force. Ankara is seeking to re-enter the F-35 co-production program, from which the US had excluded it after purchasing the Russian S-400 missile system.

The Eurofighters, which Turkey wants to buy, would help it plug gaps and integrate a new type of fighter into its Air Force, while it continues its efforts to develop the domestically produced Kaan.

Next year, Ankara aims to purchase 20 first-generation Eurofighter Typhoon jets from Britain and later another 20 ultra-modern fourth-generation Typhoons. (A2 Televizion)