A Fighter Jet Could Tear Apart U.S.-Turkey Relations

The U.S. has issued Turkey an ultimatum: Buy weapons from Russia and lose out on our partnership

An F-35 fighter jet is seen as Turkey took delivery of its first F-35 fighter jet with a ceremony at the Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, Texas, on June 21, 2018. Photo: Atilgan Ozdil/Anadolu Agency/Getty

The last thing the frayed alliance between the United States and Turkey needed was an intractable conflict over a trillion-dollar next-generation fighter aircraft. Yet that’s exactly where the two countries find themselves. In the past weeks it’s become apparent that neither side is willing to back down from a dispute over what should be two routine arms deals between close allies. The resulting standoff could complicate a raft of national security and economic issues crucial to both nations.

Ankara insists it will proceed in a multi-billion dollar purchase of the top-end S-400 Russian air defense system, even after dealing with years of negotiations with U.S. officials over purchasing their system. It’s a decision Washington says will spell the end of a multinational, trillion-dollar partnership to develop and sell the next-generation F-35 stealth fighter, produced by Lockheed Martin, to its NATO ally. Speaking to a number of analysts and NATO officials, the broad consensus is clear: The spat adds additional stress to a frayed relationship with a one-time Cold War ally that remains critical to U.S. policy in the Middle East and Central Asia, while also highlighting Russia’s newfound aggressiveness in pushing its own global agenda.

“Not only is this sort of a disaster, we aren’t even sure yet how big a disaster it might be for everyone involved in the F-35 project,” says a military intelligence officer from a NATO country also partnered on the plane. The disagreement has significant implications for U.S. foreign policy, and points to a large, byzantine web of international relations. “Tensions between Europe and Turkey are a mess over [Turkish President Tayyip] Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian behavior, [Turkey’s] fury at U.S. backing for the Kurds in Syria, and the general sense that Turkey is slipping out of NATO’s orbit and into Russia’s,” says the intelligence officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “This whole dispute couldn’t come at a worse time.”

Other military analysts say that because the impasse was so unexpected, not only are diplomatic and security implications unclear, but…