Germany Blocking Eurofighter Sale to Turkey: Eurofighter CEO

Germany's veto has grounded the sale of Eurofighter Typhoons to Turkey, amid tensions over Ankara's natural gas drilling operations in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Giancarlo Mezzanatto, CEO of Eurofighter, confirmed Turkey’s interest in acquiring the jets but revealed that Germany had obstructed the sale during a press briefing at the Farnborough International Airshow in the U.K. on July 28. Mezzanatto suggested this obstruction might be due to Turkey’s hydrocarbon exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean, a region that has been a significant point of tension between Turkey and Greece, alongside the Cyprus dispute and territorial sovereignty issues in the Aegean. However, recent months have seen both sides taking steps toward a fragile normalization.

The Eurofighters are produced by a consortium of German, British, Italian, and Spanish companies, including Airbus, BAE Systems, and Leonardo. In November, Turkey announced discussions with Britain and Spain to procure 40 Eurofighters, but Germany raised objections.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, speaking at the NATO Leaders' Summit in Washington two weeks ago, said negotiations with Germany and the United Kingdom regarding the Eurofighter were progressing favorably. "Scholz did not have a negative stance on Eurofighters," Erdoğan noted, indicating that Chancellor Olaf Scholz did not express any adverse stance on the acquisition.

Ankara's interest in the jets emerged after extended negotiations over its purchase of F-16 aircraft from the United States. Earlier this year, the U.S. approved the sale of 40 Lockheed Martin F-16s and 79 upgrade kits for Turkey’s current fleet.

Mezzanatto recently said the consortium is expecting 69 fighter orders from Germany (20), Italy (24) and Spain (25). Additionally, he mentioned progress in selling 48 jets to Saudi Arabia following Germany's lifting of the arms embargo and noted that Poland needs 32 fighter jets.