By Maria Eirini Liodi

In light of the upcoming NATO Summit in Ankara next week, on July 7-8, there has been a resurgence in discussions around the ban on sales of F-35s to Turkey under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) and Section 1245 of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA), sanctions that have been in place since Turkey’s acquisition of Russian S-400 systems in 2019. The discussions in D.C. have been prompted by recent comments from the U.S. administration regarding a “gift” to the Turkish President – an apparent reference to the $700 million General Electric jet engine sale to Turkey.

The sale of the F110 engines would support Ankara’s efforts to develop its domestic fifth-generation fighter aircraft, the KAAN. Although Ankara already received 10 F110 engines in September 2025 to power its KAAN prototypes, the prospective sale of an additional 80 engines, would significantly strengthen Turkey’s defence-industrial ambitions, particularly as the country is still working to develop a domestically produced engine for the aircraft.

Following the formal notification given to congress on June 24th, it now has a 15-day review window under the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), during which lawmakers may introduce and pass a joint resolution of disapproval to block the proposed transaction. Beyond that the AECA contains procedures which enable expedited congressional consideration of a joint disapproval resolution. From there, the President retains the power to veto a resolution of disapproval, subject to congressional override by ⅔ majorities across both the House and Senate.

Thus, while the sale is still pending congressional review, US legislators have raised concerns about the posture this sale indicates both to Erdogan, and to the wider region. For some legislators, rewarding a NATO ally who remains in violation of U.S. sanctions law, by bolstering its military capabilities further, appears contradictory and risks undermining the credibility of U.S. sanctions enforcement. 

What does this have to do with the F-35 program? While US statutory law prohibits the reintegration of Turkey in the F-35 program so long as it retains the S400 systems, thereby prohibiting any sale of F-35 aircraft or related components, skeptics in Washington have raised concerns over what this sale could mean moving forwards. More specifically, green lighting this transaction could open the door to fast-track the revisiting of Turkey’s exclusion from the F-35 program. Even if the statutory law protecting such a move is robust, some view the GE engine sale as a potential first step towards reopening a debate that had previously appeared closed.