With F-16 deal in limbo, Erdogan-Biden meeting postponed to Glasgow
Following a diplomatic row this week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters Tuesday he would seek to confirm a divisive F-16 deal with US counterpart Joe Biden at the COP26 conference in Glasgow.
ISTANBUL — An expected meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his US counterpart, Joe Biden, at the G20 summit in Rome this weekend has been postponed, Turkey’s leader said Tuesday.
The pair will instead meet on the margins of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, to be held between Oct. 31 and Nov. 12, where they will discuss a possible fighter jet deal, Erdogan told reporters aboard a return flight from Azerbaijan.
On Sept. 30, Turkey sent a formal request to the United States for the purchase of 40 new F-16 fighter jets and about 80 modernization kits to upgrade its existing fleet.
Erdogan has since sought a meeting with Biden to confirm the deal with aims to recover $1.4 billion Turkey put toward purchasing F-35 fighter jets before the nation was suspended from the program over its 2019 acquisition of Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems, which US officials say threaten to compromise the F-35’s technology.
