Turkey's Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced Sunday that Ankara and Washington will negotiate the deal on F-35 fighters in late January - early February in the US.

Turkish Milliyet newspaper quoted Akar as saying that "six F-35s for Turkey are in a hangar. We are discussing what will happen to them" with the American side.

On January 3, the Turkish Minister said that Turkey and the US were preparing to discuss the F-35 fighter jet program during a meeting in Washington in early 2022.

Akar was quoted by the Turkish Anadolu news agency as saying, "Negotiations with the United States on the F-35 are ongoing," adding that "in the coming days, a meeting will be held in the United States to discuss the F-35 issue, preparations are underway."

On the purchase of the S-400 Russian air defense system, Akar commented that the purchase of the systems, as a result of which Turkey was removed from the F-35 program, was a necessity, not a choice.

In October, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Washington invited Ankara to buy F-16 fighter jets as a return for its investment in the F-35 program.

Akar: S-400 will be used within NATO

Akar had confirmed on November 16 that the Russian S-400 missile system is a defense system and will be used within NATO, akin to the S-300 system [operated by Greece].

In a speech before the Turkish Parliament, the Minister had spoken about the evaluation of alternatives in the event of US objection against Turkey's request for F-35 and F-16 fighters.

It is noteworthy that the US suspended Turkey's participation in its F-35 program in 2019 over Ankara's purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system and later completely removed it from the project.

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