Has Türkiye’s F-35 dream crashed for good?

Trump’s promises to Erdogan made headlines, but law, Congress, and entrenched security politics still decide what actually moves An official letter sent by the US Department of State to Congress in late July set the dispute between Türkiye and the US over F-35 fighter jets back to square one.The transfer of the aircraft and Türkiye’s reinstatement in the program are still impossible because Ankara continues to possess the Russian-made S-400 air defense system and associated equipment, has not provided legally sufficient guarantees that it will avoid similar purchases in the future and has therefore failed to meet the conditions under which the US administration could certify to Congress that the security risks to the F-35 program had been removed.Washington has not closed the door on negotiations, allowing both sides to maintain the appearance of moving forward even though the legal situation has barely changed since Türkiye was expelled from the program. The letter appeared shortly after the NATO summit in Ankara, where Donald Trump, during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said that sanctions on Türkiye could be lifted and indicated that the F-35 issue would ...