Turkey was ejected from the American F-35 programme in 2019 after it bought Russian air-defence systems
The understanding reached between Washington and Ankara “is a strategic reset in spirit but not yet in practical terms”, said Asli Aydintasbas, director of the Turkey project at the Brookings Institution in Washington. “Clearly, President Trump values his relationship with Erdogan and wants Turkey to be a central player in his Nato, Europe and Middle East policies.”
After years of turmoil, “this is the closest Erdogan has come to the reset with Washington he has been seeking” – but it is “not full normalisation yet”, she said. “The congressional part of the equation is still not there.”