(Bloomberg) -- President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is pressing for Germany’s approval of Eurofighter Typhoon jet sales to Turkey, amid signs the two NATO allies are trying to improve ties.
The Turkish leader is set to bring up the issue with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz when the two meet on Monday in New York, where they traveled for the UN General Assembly, according to people familiar with the matter.
Turkey is pushing for a deal with an estimated value of about €5 billion ($5.6 billion) to buy at least 20 Eurofighter warplanes with an option to double the amount, the people said, asking not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Germany’s defense ministry and government declined to comment. The government in Berlin expects Turkey to raise the issue during Monday’s bilateral meeting, but there may not be an immediate decision, according to officials from Germany’s ruling coalition, who asked not to be identified by name, citing the sensitivity of the matter.
Germany has blocked sales of the jet to Turkey for more than a year now, primarily due to Turkey’s row with Greece over energy exploration in the Mediterranean Sea, a conflict dating back to 2019. Erdogan’s renewed push to get Scholz to approve the deal comes against a backdrop of some improvement in ties with the European Union.
Germany is the only hold-out in a four-way consortium that produces the Eurofighter.
In order to change that, Turkey — a fellow member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization — is highlighting what it says is its critical role in slowing migration into Europe. It has also recently reined in offshore energy exploration in some areas to appease Greece and lobbied for increased defense collaboration, telling allies that it would boost deterrence along NATO’s southeastern flank.
The Turkish government also wants to buy Meteor guided missiles and has asked for access to Eurofighters’ mission computers to integrate domestic missile systems, the people said.
Turkey’s defense ministry declined to comment.
In July, Erdogan urged Scholz to lift his block on the sale during a meeting in Washington. Earlier this year, Germany lifted a block it had placed on the sale of Eurofighter Typhoon jets to Saudi Arabia.
The EU is accelerating plans to improve ties with Ankara following a thaw between Greece and Turkey, which applied to join the BRICS alongside Russia and China in search of new alliances.
Erdogan is trying to modernize Turkey’s air forces since the US ousted the country in 2019 from the program to buy — and help build — Lockheed Martin’s more advanced F-35 fighter jets, which regional rival Greece is preparing to receive in the coming years.
--With assistance from Michael Nienaber and Kamil Kowalcze.
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