US-Turkey F-16 Talks Set For December, EU Threatens Turkish Airlines With Sanctions

LOCAL NEWS

• US-Turkey talks on F-16s set to start next month according to a US official. Notes that this is a very large and complex request with many licenses needing to be submitted to Congress for tiered review. Turkey aims to purchase 40 F-16s & 80 modernisation kits.
  • Says F-16 talks are separate from F-35s on a legal and technical basis as Turkey is "formally out of the F-35 program. Full stop. It's done. Turkey will produce F-35 parts for a few months longer then it will end. The contracts have already been given to other countries"
• Turkish Airlines facing fines and bans in the EU after the airline was involved in migrant flights to Belarus which were then used to push over the Polish border.
  • EC President Von Der Leyen says the EU will investigate "how to sanction airlines that are active in human trafficking. Joseph Borrell and other top officials are set to visit offending countries to stop the flights. Turkish airlines has denied the accusations
• Erdogan announces plans for two more nuclear power plants following the completion of the first plant $22bn Akkuyu in the south (2023).
  • Says "we are aiming to add more nuclear energy to our pool, thereby diversifying and enriching our production portfolio." This first plant should cover 10% of Turkey's energy needs