With German Chancellor Olaf Scholz scheduled to visit Türkiye on October 19, 2024, Germany has greenlit technical discussions with Türkiye for a potential sale of Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets. This decision, taken in a confidential meeting by the German Federal Security Council, marks a shift from Berlin, which had previously blocked the sale over concerns that these aircraft could be used against Kurdish armed groups in Syria and Iraq.
The Eurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine, multi-role combat aircraft developed by a European consortium composed of Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom under Eurofighter GmbH. Used by several European nations and Saudi Arabia, the Typhoon is designed to perform air superiority missions, airspace defense, interdiction, close air support, and reconnaissance. Its delta-wing configuration, combined with advanced control systems and optimized aerodynamic instability, delivers exceptional agility and speed, reaching up to 2,495 km/h. Equipped with two EUROJET EJ200 engines, the Typhoon offers robust power and redundancy for secure operations both in peacetime and in conflict.
The Eurofighter consortium, consisting of Germany, Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom, fully supports the potential sale of 40 Eurofighters to Türkiye, valued at approximately $5.6 billion. The agreement gained momentum following a meeting between Chancellor Scholz and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the UN General Assembly in New York last month. The technical talks, expected to last about three weeks, will cover aircraft specifications, acquisition stages, personnel training, and maintenance and spare parts management protocols.
The first batch could include 24 aircraft, with the remaining 16 delivered in a later phase. Additionally, sources close to the matter indicate that Chancellor Scholz might be seeking an agreement to expedite the repatriation of approximately 15,000 Turkish nationals whose asylum requests were denied in Germany, thereby strengthening ties between Berlin and Ankara.