Türkiye exploring massive UK arms deal involving planes, ships, tank engines

Türkiye has held talks with the United Kingdom over the possible sale of a large package of weapons, including fighter jets, transport planes, engines, and frigates.

Turkish defence minister Hulusi Akar visited London, meeting his British counterpart, Ben Wallace, three separate sources familiar with the discussions told Middle East Eye.

The sources said that during their meeting Akar and Wallace explored the possibility of Ankara purchasing Eurofighter jets, C-130J transport planes and Type 23 frigates, as well as engines for Türkiye’s outdated M60 battle tanks. The estimated value of such a deal is well over $10 billion, according to the sources.

“We are evaluating our options on these platforms but we aren’t in the final stages of negotiations,” said one of the Turkish sources, who spoke to MEE on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to the media.

Commenting on the talks, a UK Ministry of Defence spokesperson told Middle East Eye: “The Defence Secretary met with his Turkish counterpart to discuss strengthening defence ties between the two countries. They spoke on a range of topics including procurement, with progress made in a number of areas.”