His three-day tour of , which started in Kuwait on Tuesday and continued on Wednesday, ends today. Among the topics on the agenda of the talks of the Turkish president, who is accompanied by several ministers (Foreign Affairs, Energy, Defense, etc.), are the Eurofighter and the .
Erdogan, who arrived in Muscat on Wednesday afternoon, presented the Sultan of Oman with a Turkish-made Togg electric car. All three of these Gulf countries have Eurofighters – jointly produced by Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK – and expect deliveries of more of these European aircraft in the coming years.
The British factor
The Turkish president is interested in buying used Eurofighter Typhoons from Qatar, possibly from the other two countries as well. No details were leaked from yesterday’s bilateral meeting with the Emir of Qatar, who has ordered 24 Eurofighters and wants to acquire another 12. Turkey and Qatar signed a memorandum of cooperation in the field of defense industry. It is expected to be known in the coming days if this involves some kind of Eurofighter exchange for Turkish weapons.
According to the Bloomberg agency, London facilitated the Eurofighter agreement between Ankara and Doha.
What is hiding in Erdoğan’s insistence on Eurofighter?
There are analysts who believe that Ankara is turning to the Eurofighter, in order to pressure Washington, which has thrown it out of the F-35 program, in order to achieve its return to it sooner. Others believe that Ankara wants to strengthen its ties with the European members of NATO. A third interpretation is that Ankara is turning to the Eurofighter, because it will acquire them faster than the American F-16s, which will not arrive before 2030, let alone the F-35s, as it feels nervous about Israel, especially after the strike carried out by the Israeli forces against the leaders of Hamas, in Doha, Qatar.
But Israel also feels nervous, as shown by the announcement of the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism (ISGAP), a US-based organization funded mainly by the Israeli government, which warns that Turkey-Qatar cooperation aims to promote Islamic extremism, posing a threat to Jews.
Diplomatic mobility
Turkey signed a preliminary agreement for the purchase of 40 Eurofighter Typhoons in July with London. Erdogan met bilaterally with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and discussed defense issues on the sidelines of the Gaza peace summit in Egypt on October 13.
Next week, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is expected in Ankara, where he will also discuss defense issues with President Erdogan. In this meeting, as well as another with Starmer, which is expected to follow, Ankara is believed to be given the green light to acquire second-hand Eurofighters from Qatar and Oman.
