Turkey to turn elsewhere if US won’t sell F-35s, Erdogan warns

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey would turn elsewhere for fighter jets if the US will not sell it F-35s, Reuters reports. The US decision to cut Ankara from the program would not deter it from meeting its needs, he added.

Speaking publicly about the strained US ties for the first time in 11 days, Erdogan said he hoped US officials would be “reasonable” on the question of sanctions, adding that Turkey may also reconsider its purchase of advanced Boeing aircraft.

“Are you not giving us the F-35s? OK, then excuse us but we will once again have to take measures on that matter as well and we will turn elsewhere,” Erdogan told members of his ruling AK Party.

Commenting on the situation in Syria, Erdogan said that Turkey is determined to destroy the “terror corridor” east of the Euphrates river, regardless of how talks conclude with the US on a planned safe zone in Syria’s north.