Navigating the diplomatic skies: Turkiye’s path back to F-35 consortium amid S-400 controversy

Navigating the diplomatic skies: Turkiye’s path back to F-35 consortium amid S-400 controversy
A photo of Air Force's F-35 jet (AFP)
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Updated 01 February 2024
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Navigating the diplomatic skies: Turkiye’s path back to F-35 consortium amid S-400 controversy

Navigating the diplomatic skies: Turkiye’s path back to F-35 consortium amid S-400 controversy
  • Green light from Washington coincided with Turkiye formally endorsing Sweden’s NATO membership and the US administration’s notification to Congress on the sale of F-16 fighter jets to the Turkish military

ANKARA: US Acting Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland has expressed Washington’s openness to engaging in F-35 talks with Turkiye pending resolution of concerns over Ankara’s acquisition of the Russian S-400 air defense system.

Attention is now focused on the potential conditions for Turkiye’s return to the F-35 consortium, where it has played a significant role as a joint producer in the past.

The green light from Washington coincided with Turkiye formally endorsing Sweden’s NATO membership and the US administration’s notification to Congress on the sale of F-16 fighter jets to the Turkish military.

“We were in the process of negotiating the Patriot sale, and while those negotiations were going on, Turkiye went in another direction … Frankly, if we could resolve this S-400 issue, which we would like to do, the US would be delighted to welcome Turkiye back into the F-35 family. But we have to settle this other issue first, and while we solve it, we must also ensure that Turkiye has a strong air defense,” Nuland told Turkiye’s CNN Turk on Monday.

Her two-day official visit to Ankara was aimed at “reinvigorating” damaged ties between the two NATO allies.

As Turkiye was a significant contributor to the new generation F-35 stealth fighter jets’ joint program and played a crucial role in the production line, the framework for Ankara’s potential return is subject to debate.

In 2019, Turkiye was expelled from the F-35 program due to its acquisition of the Russian S-400 missile system, with the White House asserting that the F-35s could not coexist with a Russian intelligence collection platform.

During its involvement in the F-35 program, Turkiye contributed to the jet’s development financially, and its industry participated in producing about 900 parts for the stealth fighter.

Turkiye, as a member of the F-35 program, was projected to gain at least $12 billion by the end of the project in 2039, according to estimates by US aerospace industries company Lockheed Martin in 2013. However, it could not take delivery of two fighter jets for which it had made an advance payment of $1.4 billion.

“In theory, it is $12 billion. However, this program will last decades. How does anyone account for a program that will need spare parts and vendors for decades? It is tens of billions of dollars, which is truly mind-blowing,” Aaron Stein, expert at War on the Rocks, a platform for analysis and debate on strategy, defense and foreign affairs, told Arab News.

Prof. Mustafa Aydin, a professor of international relations at Kadir Has University in Istanbul, believes that the opportunity cost of Turkiye’s removal from the F-35 program is part of the intricate relationship between Turkiye-US and Turkiye-West.

“Turkiye acquired significant know-how and technological experience over the last two decades when it was involved in the fighter jet consortium, bringing industrial and economic advantages for the country itself, which in return fed back its efforts in developing its drone technology and designing its indigenous fighter jet,” he told Arab News.

Aydin said that buying jets carries substantial weight in terms of defense procurement.

“When you buy a jet, you buy at the same time a partnership along with several benefits regarding its maintenance, production and usage,” he said.

Aydin suggests that US diplomat Nuland’s remarks on the S-400s were about damage control in bilateral ties.

“I don’t expect any short-term solution for resolving that deadlock and receiving F-35s on Turkish soil. Turkiye can only rejoin the purchase and the production of F-35s if the deadlock over S-400s is resolved and the US CAATSA sanctions are lifted, which cannot happen in the short term due to the complexities attached,” he said.

“Keeping them in a depot on Turkish soil is risky in political terms. The most feasible solution was to deploy them to Incirlik air base in Turkish southern territories, with US inspections about the system’s status,” Aydin said.

On “compromise options” proposed during the Trump and Biden administrations to manage the damage caused by the S-400s on Turkiye-US relations, Stein suggests that if Ankara is ready to discuss compromises, the pressure would shift to the US, and conversations about Turkiye’s role in the program would be inevitable.

In the meantime, Aydin believes that it would be politically risky for the Turkish government to “sell” such an alternative solution to the Turkish people and convince them about the economic costs, as they may object, asserting that Turkiye is already working on developing its own fifth-generation fighter jet program, Kaan.

“After the green light given by the Congress, Ankara will begin engaging in negotiations with Lockheed Martin for the purchase details of the F-16 jets, which will also take some months in the most optimistic scenario,” he said.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency under the US Department of State released a statement about Turkiye-F16 aircraft acquisition and modernization on Jan 26: “The purchaser typically requests offsets. Any offset agreement will be defined in negotiations between the purchaser and the contractor,” hinting at potential details of the looming negotiations between the parties.

Stein does not believe that having the F-35s will change Turkiye’s status within NATO.

“The F-35 is a very capable jet, but it doesn’t replace the political will to do things NATO wants. And, for quite some time now, Ankara likes to march to a rhythm that is out of sync with most of its allies,” he said.

However, Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat and chairman of the Istanbul-based think tank EDAM, thinks that acceptance to the F-35 program would make Turkiye more capable of participating in a number of NATO missions that would use the F-35 as a key platform.

“These missions may have self-characteristics, they may be planned for a number of tactical operations that NATO may need in the future. They may be limited to countries that would have those particular capabilities. Without fifth-generation stealth jets, Turkiye would not be able to take part in those missions and there would be capability gaps between Turkiye and some other NATO allies,” he told Arab News.

According to Ulgen, Turkiye can return to the F-35 program, but this would require solutions for the S-400 dilemma. For this to happen, both sides need to demonstrate flexibility to find a solution.

“There are basically two categories of solutions. Turkiye would either cease possession of the Russian system and send it to a third country, which is not feasible and not acceptable by Russia, while in the second solution the material could remain in Turkiye but with heavy monitoring conditions attached to its presence,” he said.

Ulgen thinks that Turkiye could return to the program as a buyer but also as a manufacturer, but there are a number of costs to be covered for this to happen.

“Turkiye was a very valued manufacturer and provided a range of critical inputs for the jets. Now in the meantime after Turkiye was pulled out from the program, the manufacturer had to find some alternative suppliers, which included some costs like shifting the production line to other manufacturers,” he said.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin is to visit Turkiye on Feb. 12 to meet his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.


First flight with Israelis evacuated from Amsterdam lands in Tel Aviv

First flight with Israelis evacuated from Amsterdam lands in Tel Aviv
Updated 57 min 40 sec ago
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First flight with Israelis evacuated from Amsterdam lands in Tel Aviv

First flight with Israelis evacuated from Amsterdam lands in Tel Aviv
  • The plane that arrived in Tel Aviv had passengers evacuated from Amsterdam

TEL AVIV: The first flight carrying Israelis evacuated from Amsterdam after violent clashes following a football match there landed on Friday at Ben Gurion International Airport, the Israel Airports Authority said.
“The plane that arrived in Tel Aviv now has passengers evacuated from Amsterdam,” Liza Dvir, spokeswoman for the airport authority told AFP.


India’s Modi rejects calls to restore Kashmir’s partial autonomy

India’s Modi rejects calls to restore Kashmir’s partial autonomy
Updated 08 November 2024
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India’s Modi rejects calls to restore Kashmir’s partial autonomy

India’s Modi rejects calls to restore Kashmir’s partial autonomy
  • Modi revoked partial autonomy in 2019 and split the state into the two federally administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh 
  • Jammu and Kashmir held its first local election in a decade this year, newly-elected lawmakers passed resolution this week seeking restoration

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly backed his government’s contentious 2019 decision to revoke the partial autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir, days after the territory’s newly elected lawmakers sought its restoration.
“Only the constitution of Babasaheb Ambedkar will operate in Kashmir... No power in the world can restore Article 370 (partial autonomy) in Kashmir,” Modi said, referring to one of the founding fathers of the Indian constitution.
Modi was speaking at a state election rally in the western state of Maharashtra, where Ambedkar was from.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government revoked partial autonomy in 2019 and split the state into the two federally administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh — a move that was opposed by many political groups in the Himalayan region.
Jammu and Kashmir held its first local election in a decade in September and October and the newly-elected lawmakers passed a resolution this week seeking the restoration.
Jammu and Kashmir’s ruling National Conference party had promised in its election manifesto that it would restore the partial autonomy, although the power to do so lies with Modi’s federal government.
Jammu and Kashmir’s new lawmakers can legislate on local issues like other Indian states, except matters regarding public order and policing. They will also need the approval of the federally-appointed administrator on all policy decisions that have financial implications.
Under the system of partial autonomy, Kashmir had its own constitution and the freedom to make laws on all issues except foreign affairs, defense and communications.
The troubled region, where separatist militants have fought security forces since 1989, is India’s only Muslim-majority territory.
It has been at the center of a territorial dispute with Pakistan since the neighbors gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
Kashmir is claimed in full but ruled in part by both India and Pakistan, which have fought two of their three wars over the region.


Kyiv says Russia has returned bodies of 563 soldiers

Kyiv says Russia has returned bodies of 563 soldiers
Updated 08 November 2024
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Kyiv says Russia has returned bodies of 563 soldiers

Kyiv says Russia has returned bodies of 563 soldiers
  • The exchange of prisoners and bodies of killed military personnel remains one of the few areas of cooperation
  • The announcement represents one of the largest repatriations of killed Ukrainian servicemen

KYIV: Ukraine said on Friday it had received the bodies of 563 soldiers from Russian authorities, mainly troops that had died in combat in the eastern Donetsk region.
The exchange of prisoners and bodies of killed military personnel remains one of the few areas of cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv since Russia invaded in 2022.
“The bodies of 563 fallen Ukrainian defenders were returned to Ukraine,” the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in a statement on social media.
The announcement represents one of the largest repatriations of killed Ukrainian servicemen since the beginning of the war.
The statement said that 320 of the remains were returned from the Donetsk region and that 89 of the soldiers had been killed near Bakhmut, a town captured by Russia in May last year after a costly battle.
Another 154 of the bodies were returned from morgues inside Russia, the statement added.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine publicly disclose how many military personnel have been killed fighting.


Russia sentences soldiers who massacred Ukraine family to life in prison

Russia sentences soldiers who massacred Ukraine family to life in prison
Updated 08 November 2024
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Russia sentences soldiers who massacred Ukraine family to life in prison

Russia sentences soldiers who massacred Ukraine family to life in prison
  • The court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced the two men to life in prison for mass murder “motivated by political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred“
  • The incident triggered uproar in Ukraine

MOSCOW: A Russian court sentenced two soldiers to life in prison for the massacre of a family of nine people in their home in occupied Ukraine, state media reported on Friday.
Russian prosecutors said in October 2023, the two Russian soldiers, Anton Sopov and Stanislav Rau, entered the home of the Kapkanets family in the city of Volnovakha with guns equipped with silencers.
They then shot all nine family members who lived there, including two children aged five and nine.
The southern district military court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced the two men to life in prison for mass murder “motivated by political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred,” the state-run TASS news agency reported, citing an unnamed law enforcement source.
The incident triggered uproar in Ukraine.
Kyiv alleged at the time that the Russian soldiers had murdered the family in their sleep after they refused to move out of their home to allow Russian soldiers to live there.
“The occupiers killed the Kapkanets family, who were celebrating a birthday and refused to give up their home,” Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said a day after the murder.
Russian forces seized the city of Volnovakha in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region at the start of their full-scale military offensive.
It was virtually destroyed by Russian artillery strikes.
Russian soldiers have been accused of multiple instances of killing civilians in Ukrainian towns and cities they have occupied since February 2022.
Moscow has always denied targeting civilians and tried to claim reports of atrocities at places like Bucha were fake, despite widespread evidence from multiple independent sources.
The arrest and sentencing in this case is a rare example of Russia admitting to a crime committed by its troops in Ukraine.
State media did not say what prosecutors determined the reason for the attack was.
TASS suggested it could have been a “domestic dispute,” while both the independent Radio Free Europe and Kommersant business outlets said it could have been linked to a dispute over obtaining vodka.
The trial was held in secret.
The independent Radio Free Europe outlet reported the Rau, 28, and Sopov, 21 were mercenaries for the Wagner paramilitary before joining Russia’s official army.
They had both received state awards a few months before the mass murder, it said.


Saudi influencer shines spotlight on resilience, hard work of Filipino expats

Saudi influencer shines spotlight on resilience, hard work of Filipino expats
Updated 08 November 2024
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Saudi influencer shines spotlight on resilience, hard work of Filipino expats

Saudi influencer shines spotlight on resilience, hard work of Filipino expats
  • Riyadh-based health worker Ahmed Alruwaili has 1.7 million followers on Facebook
  • He shot to social media fame thanking Filipino frontliners during COVID-19 pandemic

MANILA: Dressed in a white thobe, a traditional headdress, and a blue jersey of the Philippine national basketball team, Saudi influencer Ahmed Alruwaili appears in a viral video, distributing small gifts and snacks to Filipinos in Riyadh as a way to thank them for their hard work.

In another clip, he visits an elementary school for Filipino children, sharing jokes and laughter with them. In yet another, he hands out portable electric fans to Filipino expats braving the scorching heat of the Saudi capital.

These videos are just a few among the hundreds of Alruwaili posts, in which he uses his social media platform to celebrate over 1 million Filipino expats living and working in Saudi Arabia. Through his content, he highlights their resilience, traditions, and sense of humor, reaching 1.7 million Facebook followers.

It all began about six years ago when he joined a group of Filipino baristas playing street basketball in the mornings. Initially reluctant, they soon welcomed him into their circle. After each game, they would share their breakfasts with him before heading off to work.

“They used to bring pancit in the morning, at 5 a.m. Pancit and pan de sal, Alicafe,” Alruwaili recalled, referring to traditional Filipino noodles, bread rolls, and the popular instant coffee.

“I know it’s really weird, but that’s how it all started. It’s all with basketball. And till today, I still play with the same people. I did not change, I’m still visiting them. I’m the one now to bring them the food.”

Over time, he developed a basic understanding of Filipino culture and Tagalog — a language he had slowly become familiar with also through his work in a healthcare facility, where he had met many Filipino colleagues.

During basketball games, his friends would often record videos of him, which quickly garnered considerable attention and views. Encouraged by this, Alruwaili began sharing content regularly. While his posts were initially comedic, everything changed with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, as he witnessed the dedication and sacrifice of Filipino nurses working on the frontlines of the healthcare crisis.

Feeling the need to express recognition and gratitude, Alruwaili shifted the focus of his content. This became a turning point — one that would shape the direction of his online presence and influence in the years to come.

“It was purely comedy until the COVID time,” he said. “Working in a healthcare facility, I see the hard-working OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) here in Saudi. So, I thought I’d use it to give appreciation. Once I did that … it became different. All the things happened after that. This is how we started.”

In a video posted in March 2020, Alruwaili is seen buying flowers and food and distributing them to Filipino nurses at various locations in Riyadh.

“The reason why I made this is just to remind you about all the hard work that the nurses are doing all over the world, especially the OFW nurses against this coronavirus,” he says in the clip.

“We all need to pray and appreciate all the nurses for their hard work. The nurses now are the true heroes.”

The video received 3.5 million views. Another video, in which Alruwaili brings pillows, blankets, and food to pandemic-stranded Filipino workers waiting for their flights, has now reached 6 million views — and continues to grow.

Known as The Saudipinoy after the name of his Facebook account — with the word “Pinoy” meaning “Filipino” in Tagalog — the Saudi influencer has already visited the Philippines eight times since he started vlogging.

One of his most popular clips — which has 8 million views — was filmed on Siargao Island. It shows him conducting a social experiment, pretending that his motorcycle has run out of gas. The video captures how Filipinos would immediately offer help to a stranger in need.

Despite his social media fame, Alruwaili’s life remains centered around his full-time job in healthcare. Working as a medical professional, he devotes just one day a week to creating content.

“One day, I am just asleep … then the other day I will do the vlog, then I will prepare to go back to work. So, my life is really busy, I am really working hard to keep up with the vlog,” he said.

“(But) I am extremely happy with the impact (of what) I am doing.”

His social media work is appreciated not only by Filipinos, many of whom recognize him on the streets of Riyadh and approach him to thank him and hug him, but also by fellow Saudis.

“I want Saudis to notice the hard work of OFWs, and I want OFWs to know that Saudi people are nice,” he said.

“I am proud to be Saudi and representing Saudis. And, thank God, even big people here in Saudi … they said: ‘Keep going, you are representing the Saudi people and we are proud of you.’”