President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer attend a ceremony where they signed an agreement for Eurofighter jets, Ankara, Oct. 27, 2025. DHA Photo
By Daily Sabah
Turkey and Britain have signed an 8-billion-pound ($10.7 billion) deal for the purchase of 20 Eurofighter Typhoon jets, further boosting bilateral defense cooperation between the two NATO allies.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that the implementation arrangements for the procurement of the jets were signed during interdelegation meetings.
“I see this agreement as a new symbol of the strategic relations between our two close allies. I believe this cooperation with the United Kingdom will also pave the way for joint projects in the defense industry,” he said.
For his part, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the fighter jet deal between the two countries would deepen security in NATO and enhance bilateral cooperation in the defense industry.
Defense Minister Yaşar Güler noted that Turkey would purchase 12 Eurofighters from Qatar, 12 from Oman, and 20 from the U.K.
The two leaders announced the launch of the first-ever U.K.-Türkiye bilateral cooperation framework.
Starmer called it “a landmark moment reflecting the increasing depth and breadth of our existing cooperation and our ambition to go further.”
President Erdoğan said: “We are committed to increasing our trade volume with the United Kingdom, initially to $30 billion and eventually to $40 billion. We are determined to strengthen our economic ties.”
Earlier, Starmer was welcomed with an official ceremony and co-chaired an inter-delegation meeting with Erdogan. He visited Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ) for a briefing on Türkiye’s domestically produced fighter jet KAAN and inspected the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft involved in the deal.
Accompanied by top defense officials, Starmer arrived in Ankara on Monday as a guest of President Erdoğan.
In July, Ankara and London signed a preliminary purchase deal approved by Eurofighter consortium members Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain, represented by Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo.
Germany initially blocked the sale, but lifted its opposition in July, clearing the way for the sale to go ahead.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz visits Ankara on Thursday for talks with Erdoğan.
Last week, Erdoğan visited Qatar and Oman in part to discuss the purchase plan, which the president said was moving in a “positive direction.” Europe has increasingly turned to Türkiye, NATO’s second-largest military and a major exporter of armed drones, to reinforce its eastern flank and potentially backstop any future post-war stabilization force in Ukraine.
Last week, citing a person familiar with the matter, Reuters reported that Turkey was nearing a deal in which it would promptly receive 12 Typhoons, albeit used, from previous buyers Qatar and Oman to meet its immediate needs, with more new jets coming from Britain in future years.