ISTANBUL, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Türkiye is close to its potential purchase of Eurofighter Typhoon jets on Wednesday after signing a memorandum of understanding with Britain and getting approval from Germany.
The Eurofighter Typhoon, manufactured by a consortium of Germany, Spain, Italy, and Britain, is known for its advanced air-to-air and air-to-surface combat capabilities. Any sale requires approval from all four partner nations.
The Turkish Defense Ministry announced on the social media platform X that defense ministers of Türkiye and Britain signed an MoU on Eurofighter Typhoon at a defense industry fair in Istanbul, marking a step forward in bringing Türkiye closer to joining the Eurofighter Typhoon program.
"Both ministers welcomed the signing as a positive step toward Türkiye's entry into the Typhoon program and expressed a shared ambition to finalize the necessary arrangements as soon as possible," the ministry said.
The ministry noted that welcoming Türkiye as a Typhoon operator would deepen decades-long defense ties between key NATO allies and substantially boost Türkiye's advanced combat air capabilities.
Also on Wednesday, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported that Germany's Security Council has lifted its blockage on the sale and approved Türkiye's request for 40 Eurofighter jets.
Citing a statement by German government Spokesperson Stefan Kornelius, Anadolu reported that the German Ministry of Defense granted approval in a letter sent to Türkiye, and the German government provided export support in close coordination with its partners. ■
