Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed hope that his meeting last month with US leader Donald Trump would help lift sanctions blocking Ankara's purchase of F-35 fighter jets, as well as resolve a lawsuit against state lender Halkbank, Reuters reports.
US sanctions under CAATSA, imposed in 2020 over Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems, as well as US accusations against Halkbank, which helped Iran circumvent separate sanctions, emerged as key issues in talks at the White House two weeks ago.
The parties announced that there were no agreements on these questions after Trump-Erdogan meeting.
"I hope the F-35 issue will be resolved and the CAATSA sanctions will be lifted," Erdogan said today when asked about the meeting and subsequent phone call with Trump.
"We must achieve this. Our visit has ushered in a new era in Turkish-American relations and further strengthened the dialogue and friendship between us," he said.
Erdogan noted that Trump told him both at the White House and in their phone call that "the Halkbank issue is over for us".
Yesterday, two sources revealed that Turkish officials had offered to settle the case against Halkbank for about $100 million during the White House meeting. Halkbank shares subsequently rose 7.9% in Istanbul.
"We also know that there are some processes related to Halkbank that need to be completed. Our hope is that these processes will be concluded positively as soon as possible," Erdogan said.