Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - International Service: News published about Turkey's national fighter jet called Kaan shows that, contrary to the claims of the ruling party media in Turkey, relations between Washington and Ankara are still not in a favorable state and the project to produce this fighter jet has encountered serious problems.

 

Turkey had previously claimed that the Kaan fighter jet was completely domestically manufactured and that a contract to sell 48 of it to Indonesia had also been signed; a claim that has now been confronted with new realities.

 

Namıktan, a veteran Turkish diplomat, expressed doubts about the possibility of a quick replacement of the fighter jet for the F-35 and said: “This project is not possible in the short term.” The Washington Post also reported that the crisis in the supply of the Kaan engine has cast a shadow over the friendly relations between Trump and Erdogan.

 

The US Congress’s opposition to the sale of the engine for the fighter jet is directly related to Turkey’s purchase of the Russian S-400 missile system, for which Washington has repeatedly pressured Ankara. Referring to the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Trade Act (CAATSA), Fidan stated that the export license for the engines required for the Kaan has been suspended and that this issue is one of the priorities in resolving the dispute between Ankara and Washington.

 

In response to a question about the recent meeting between Erdogan and Trump at the White House, Fidan said that there is a will on both sides to solve the problems, but the issues are complex and multifaceted and take time. He also announced efforts to develop cooperation in the field of energy, especially nuclear energy and natural gas.

 

Fidan’s stance was widely criticized in the Turkish media; the newspaper Qor described the incident as a “big shock” on its front page and wrote: “Was this all the concessions you got from America?”

 

Al-Nafas newspaper, referring to Erdogan’s exaggerated unveiling of the Kaan fighter jet in 2023, also considered the project an election campaign stunt and called Fidan’s words a cold water on these claims. The newspaper also mentioned the announcement of the sale of 48 Kaan aircraft to Indonesia and orders from six other countries, which apparently do not correspond to the current realities.

 

However, a few hours after these statements, Professor Khalluq, the head of the Turkish Defense Industries Organization, while denying the problems, announced that Kaan production was continuing as planned and that domestic TF35000 engines and APU60 auxiliary power unit were being developed. He added that the prototype aircraft had received all the required engines and that in the event of a problem in supplying foreign engines, it was possible to replace the engines with domestic designs.

 

However, Turkish experts have predicted that the domestic engine will take until 2032 to develop, and until then the country will remain dependent on American engines.

 

According to Tasnim, this conflict in official positions has intensified along with domestic criticism. Right-wing politician and leader of the Victory Party, Ümit Özdag, has called the Kaan project lacking an operational engine and described it as “perception engineering” and party propaganda.

 

Independent media outlet Mediascope has also assessed the crisis as a threat to Turkey’s credibility, and defense experts have warned that without a domestic engine, the Kaan will be a mere publicity stunt and will not have real operational capability.