Eighteen members of the U.S. House of Representatives are urging congressional leadership to block any effort to reinstate Turkey in the F-35 fighter jet program. In a letter addressed to House Republican Leader Steve Scalise and Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the lawmakers — led by Democratic Representative Dina Titus — warn against proceeding with the sale or transfer of F-35s to Ankara.
Concerns Over S-400 System Remain
The letter comes ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara on July 7–8 and follows reports that the U.S. administration is exploring ways to bring Turkey back into the fifth-generation fighter program. It references recent statements by former President Donald Trump — who hinted at delivering a “big gift” to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan — and remarks by Vice President JD Vance indicating an ongoing legal review of how such a sale could proceed.
Turkey was formally removed from the F-35 program in 2019 after purchasing Russia’s S-400 air defense system. U.S. officials argued that integrating the Russian system with the highly sensitive F-35 posed unacceptable risks to the jet’s stealth capabilities and classified technology.
Legal Barriers Still in Place
In December 2020, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Turkey’s Presidency of Defense Industries under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), citing the S-400 purchase. Those sanctions remain in effect and have not been revoked.
The lawmakers point to two key legal provisions: CAATSA and the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which explicitly prohibits transferring F-35s to Turkey as long as Ankara retains the S-400 system and fails to provide concrete assurances it will not seek to acquire it again.
According to the letter, publicly available information shows Turkey has neither removed the S-400 from its territory nor withdrawn it from operational use — nor taken any other step to resolve the core issue that triggered sanctions. As a result, the signatories argue that reinstating Turkey in the F-35 program would place the U.S. government in direct conflict with its own statutory obligations.
The letter also cites testimony by Secretary of State Marco Rubio before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on June 3, 2026 — though this date appears to be an error in the original text — where, according to the lawmakers, he acknowledged the legal constraints involved.