Turkey plans to speed up fighter jet project with Britain

Turkey plans to speed up its collaboration with Britain for the building of a new generation of fighter jet engines for the Turkish air force, the foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, has said.

The £100m deal between Kale Group and Rolls-Royce was in effect put on hold in March after it was initially signed by the previous UK prime minister, Theresa May, in 2017.

The news is likely to be controversial as Turkish jets strafe Kurdish positions in northern Syria, and the Turkish president has threatened to send troops to Libya in defiance of the UN weapons embargo. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has also threatened to take on a Nato partner, Greece, in a dispute over drilling rights in the Mediterranean.

But the UK has been one of Turkey’s staunchest partners and, after its planned departure from the EU, will be in search of trade and defence deals.

In setting up the joint venture company in 2017, the Turkish defence firm Kale and Rolls-Royce said the engines would supply Turkey’s first TF-X aircraft, an indigenous generation of fighters to replace the F-16 fighter jets. They are expected to be ready by 2023 as a symbol of Turkish strength on the 100th anniversary of the republic.

The deal has been hampered by disputes over intellectual property rights and offers from alternative suppliers, including Russia. It also comes as Turkish membership of Nato is again questioned after its purchase of a Russian S-400 air defence system, a move that has led to renewed calls from the US Congress either for sanctions on Turkey or a permanent ban on the sale of US F-35s jets to the country.

Turkey claims it had no option than to purchase the Russian S-400 system after the the US and Europe refused to supply their defence systems.

Ankara has proposed a joint technical working party to examine how Turkey’s simultaneous use of US fighter jets and Russian defence systems could be compatible with Nato membership.

The announced revival of the Rolls-Royce deal may be a means of warning Congress that Turkey still has allies, and alternative suppliers if its access to the F-35s is halted.

Related: UK’s £100m weapons deal with Turkey ‘turns blind eye to rights abuse’

Justin Bronk, an analyst at the RUSI defence thinktank, said: “S-400 ownership is not fundamentally incompatible with Nato membership but it is absolutely incompatible with F-35 ownership. As the Turkish armed forces have shown, the first thing the [Russian] technicians setting up the S-400 radars in Turkey will do is test the system thoroughly against Turkish air force jets.

“If Turkey were allowed the F-35 as well as S-400, then they would be able to test the S-400 radars against the F-35 under various different conditions, giving extremely valuable intelligence to Russia about how to counter the latest Nato fast jet which is going to be the core of alliance air power for the next 30 years. There is no compromise to be had there.”

All this may make Erdoğan an increasingly high-risk defence partner for the UK. Ankara’s warning this week that it may send troops to Libya, if requested by the Tripoli-based UN-recognised Government of National Accord, will not be welcome to the Foreign Office as it tries to lessen outside interference in the country.

The GNA since April has been fighting the United Arab Emirates-backed Libyan National Army, led by Khalifa Haftar. A report by UN experts this week revealed wholesale breaches of the arms embargo by Turkey, Jordan and the UAE. It also accused an unnamed member state – believed to be the UAE – of a serious breach of international humanitarian law by bombing the Tajoura detention centre in the summer, an incident that killed up to 50 people.

In recent weeks the military scales have tipped in Haftar’s favour due to the support of 200 or so Russian mercenaries.

Erdoğan says he plans to speak to Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, on the phone this week to argue that the Kremlin’s support for Haftar is undermining the chances of Libya finding a path to democracy.