Description: UK’s Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, while on an official visit to Turkey, met with Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as they concluded a groundbreaking fighter jet acquisition deal. Turkey would pay $10.7 billion for the Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet, jointly produced by Germany, Britain, Spain and Italy and assembled by the British BAE Systems. The agreement was previously opposed by Germany but was later pushed forward in a previous meeting between UK’s Defense Secretary John Healey and his Turkish counterpart, Yasar Guler in Jul. The conclusion of the purchase would complement another fighter jet acquisition of additional semi – used Eurofighters from Oman and Qatar and would add to Turkey’s bid to be included in the global US F – 35 fighter jet program. The fleet of fighter jets is expected to fill the transitional gap before Turkey introduces its fifth generation KAAN fighter jet. Starmer’s visit was overshadowed by Erdogan’s domestic political crisis as a decision by an Istanbul Court added to the charges of opposition leader Ekrem Imamoglu accusing him of espionage.
Impact: Turkey’s rearmament push arrives as the country solidifies its regional influence as a power broker, being one of the major diplomatic forces behind the ceasefire in Gaza and as a reliant NATO partner representing a backstop for security threats from the Middle East and Russia. The future plans for additional acquisition of fighter jets underscore the importance of aerial dominance in the modern warfare, as Turkey has to independently tackle threats in Syria, Iraq and follow Israel in lockstep as the dominant military power in the region which continuously attacks neighboring countries such as Lebanon and Syria. Starmer’s reluctance to directly address the Turkish domestic political crisis indicates that Turkey’s role on the international stage is currently indispensable as most of the country’s partners are willing to ignore Erdogan’s illegal crackdown on his political opponents. The domestic crisis continues to persist through the persecution of the CHP members by Turkey’s legal system while public outrage continues to exponentially rise, threatening domestic stability.