Istanbul (AFP) – Turkish Airlines announced on Friday a deal to buy up to 225 Boeing jets, one day after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made his first White House visit since 2019. The more than two-hour meeting between Erdogan and President Donald Trump raised Ankara’s hopes of seeing Washington lift sanctions that since 2020 have blocked it from buying American F-35 fighter jets. The measures were imposed in retaliation for Turkey’s purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system.
Speaking to Turkish reporters on his flight home from Washington, Erdogan described a “sincere, constructive and productive atmosphere” during the talks. But he conceded that “resolving all problems in a single meeting is, of course, impossible”. The Turkish Airlines deal includes 150 confirmed Boeing aircraft to be delivered between 2029 and 2034, with an option for 75 more, the company said in a statement, without giving a figure of the cost. “With these orders, we aim to transition our entire fleet to next-generation aircraft by 2035, boosting efficiency and supporting an average annual growth rate of six percent,” the airline said.
The airline made a firm order for 50 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, with an option for 25 more. It also placed an order for 100 Boeing 737 MAX jets, with an option for 50 more. The airline is also in talks with engine makers Rolls-Royce and GE Aerospace for engines, spare parts, and maintenance services for the Dreamliners. The Boeing deal follows Turkish Airlines’ December 2023 announcement of a 355-plane order from European rival Airbus.
Reports of a Boeing deal had circulated in Turkish media earlier this week, ahead of Erdogan’s meeting with Trump. It was Erdogan’s first official reception at the White House since Trump’s first term in 2019. He had been largely sidelined during President Joe Biden’s 2020-2024 term. Washington kicked Turkey out of an F-35 fighter jet programme in 2019 over the NATO member’s purchase of the Russian air defense system.
Trump said he was ready to lift sanctions against Ankara over the S-400 missiles if the meeting went well. But he also pushed the key issue of Ukraine with Erdogan, whose country has refused to join international sanctions on Moscow and has even stepped up its purchases of Russian oil. “I’d like to have him stop buying any oil from Russia while Russia continues this rampage,” Trump told reporters at the start of the Oval Office meeting.
Turkey is Russia’s fourth-biggest trading partner, according to Europe’s Bruegel institute, which tallied $52 billion worth of exchanges last year — largely fossil fuels and electronics. Trump, who said in a major shift earlier this week that he now believed Ukraine can win the war, insists Western allies must stop buying Russian oil and gas before he imposes any more sanctions on Moscow.
© 2024 AFP
