ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey has hired a Washington-based law firm to lobby for its readmission to the US F-35 fighter jet program after it was suspended over its purchase of Russian air defenses, a contract filed with the US Department of Justice showed. The contract was signed with Ankara-based SSTEK Defense Industry Technologies, owned by the Turkish Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB), Ankara’s main defense industry authority. Despite Turkey’s removal from the program, and sanctions imposed on Turkey’s defense industry in December, the Pentagon has said it will continue to depend on Turkish contractors for key F-35 components. Turkey’s communications director Fahrettin Altun said Turkey had already paid for some F-35 jets. “Even a hangar fee was taken from Turkey for the jets it could not take delivery of,” he told a NATO-related event on Thursday.

Source: Egypt Independent February 19, 2021 09:56 UTC