US Proceeds With $700 Million Jet Engine Sale to Turkey

These engines serve as the backbone for Turkey’s national defense initiative, which began in 2016 as a push for military self-reliance. The deal marks a complex pivot point for the two nations, still reeling from the fallout of Turkey’s acquisition of Russian S-400 missile systems. That purchase previously triggered Washington's decision to eject Ankara from the high-profile F-35 fighter program and impose significant sanctions.

Representative Gregory Meeks remains a vocal critic of the sale, yet the process continues to move toward a formal State Department notification. The transaction highlights the friction between Ankara’s defense ambitions and Washington’s regulatory constraints, setting a tense stage for defense policy debates at the upcoming July summit.