ANKARA: Turkiye is negotiating with Qatar and Oman to acquire used Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets as part of its effort to bolster its air force capabilities, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in comments released Friday.
Turkiye aims to purchase dozens of Eurofighters and other advanced jets as a stopgap measure to strengthen its fleet until its domestically developed fifth-generation KAAN fighter jet becomes operational.
In July, Turkiye and United Kingdom signed a preliminary agreement for the sale of Eurofighter Typhoons, which are produced by a consortium made up of the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain. However, reports indicate that the Turkish government is also seeking to source secondhand jets from Gulf nations to meet its immediate needs.
“We discussed the ongoing negotiations with the Qatari and Omani sides regarding the purchase of Eurofighter warplanes,” Erdogan told journalists Thursday during a flight returning from a Gulf tour that included Qatar and Oman.
“The talks on this technically detailed matter are progressing positively,” he said, according to a transcript released Friday.
During his three-day tour of Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman, Erdogan oversaw the signing of several agreements, including in the defense sector, his office said, without providing details.
Turkiye, a member of NATO, is also pursuing the country’s return into the US-led F-35 fighter jet program, from which it was removed in 2019 following its acquisition of Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems. The US had cited security risks to the F-35 program.
Erdogan raised the issue of Turkiye’s reentry into the program during a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House last month.
Turkish officials have stated that the country plans to acquire a total of 120 fighter jets — 40 Eurofighters, 40 US-made F-16s and 40 F-35s — as a transitional fleet until the KAAN is expected to enter service in 2028 at the earliest.
Turkiye in talks with Qatar and Oman to buy used Eurofighter jets, Erdogan says
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Turkiye in talks with Qatar and Oman to buy used Eurofighter jets, Erdogan says
- President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed the talks in comments released Friday as part of a plan to strengthen Turkiye’s fleet until its domestically developed KAAN fighter jet becomes operational
Two Tunisia columnists handed over three years in prison
- Mourad Zeghidi and Borhen Bsaies have already been in detention for almost two years
- They were due to be released in January 2025 but have remained in custody on charges of money laundering
TUNIS: Two prominent Tunisian columnists were sentenced on Thursday to three and a half years in prison each for money laundering and tax evasion, according to a relative and local media.
The two men, Mourad Zeghidi and Borhen Bsaies, have already been in detention for almost two years for statements considered critical of President Kais Saied’s government, made on radio, television programs and social media.
They were due to be released in January 2025 but have remained in custody on charges of money laundering and tax evasion.
“Three and a half years for Mourad and Borhen,” Zeghidi’s sister, Meriem Zeghidi Adda, wrote on Facebook on Thursday.
Since Saied’s power grab, which granted him sweeping powers on July 25, 2021, local and international NGOs have denounced a regression of rights and freedoms in Tunisia.
Dozens of opposition figures and civil society activists are being prosecuted under a presidential decree officially aimed at combatting “fake news” but subject to a very broad interpretation denounced by human rights defenders.
Others, including opposition leaders, have been sentenced to heavy prison terms in a mega-trial of “conspiracy against state security.”
In 2025, Tunisia fell 11 places in media watchdog Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) World Press Freedom Index, dropping from 118th to 129th out of 180 countries.
