New German government to decide on the Eurofighter sale in Turkey: those responsible

The outgoing government of Ankara Germans will postpone a decision on the sale of Typhon Eurofighter aircraft to Turkey to the entering government, the official German sources suggested in Al-Monitor following media reports according to which Berlin blocked the sale previously approved due to national political events within Turkey.

The German government, led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, blocked the sale largely due to the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, reported the Germanys Handelsblatt last week, citing several familiar sources with the discussion of the internal government. Imamoglu, a presidential competitor of the main party of the Republican peoples of the opposition and a key rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was arrested for accusations of corruption last month, fueling additional fears on the democratic decline of the Turdes.

The federal government generally does not comment on internal government deliberations, a source in the German government in Al-Monitor on the guise of anonymity said on Wednesday, adding that the acting federal government will refrain from making decisions on large-scale arms export issues that would preempt those of the future federal government. “”

The outgoing government of the Germanys, led by Scholz, is expected to hand over the new government to be formed by the conservative chief Friedrich Merz on May 6 after the federal elections in late February.

Turkey publicly declared its attempt to acquire 40 Eurofighter Typhoon Jets manufactured by a European consortium in the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain and Germany last year. After initially opposed to the sale, Germany, the only restraint in the group, approved it last November, announced Turkish officials at the time.

A European consortium price offer for sale has reached Ankara, said the Turkish Defense Ministry last month, although the figure was not made public.

But the arrest of Imamoglus seems to have blocked the sale. The head of the opposition, who denies any reprehensible act, was imprisoned on March 23 for accusations of corruption following his detention on March 19. Government criticisms believe that the arrest was politically motivated, aimed at sidelining a key rival of Erdogan before the presidential elections in 2028 which will probably be held earlier. Imamoglu remains behind bars awaiting an indictment, although no calendar has been made available.

Scholz last month described the arrest of the mayors of Istanbul as a very, very bad sign for turkey relations with the European Union. He said this decision was depressing democracy in Türkiye, but also depressing the relationship between Europe and Turkey.

Scholz, who directs a government coalition of the minority goalkeeper made up of his social democrats and the Greens and formerly pro-business democrats, who left the government in November, is ready to re-work in Merz, who pleaded for more in-depth cooperation with Turkey as part of the strengthening of collective European security.

Turkey has one of the largest NATO armies and is therefore essential for our defense community, he said in February before its electoral victory.

NATO European allies should engage in a strategic dialogue with Turkey on how we can better pursue our common foreign policy interests, he added.

Turkey, which has the second largest permanent NATO army, has raised its request to purchase twins, Supersonic Eurofighter, after being prevented from acquiring new generation F-35 fighter planes due to its 2019 purchase of the Defense Missiles system of the Russian S-400 during President Donald Trumps in the first mandate. Turkey seeks to modernize its Air Force fleet, the most recent additions of which are the F-16. The country's current fleet has around 250 F-16, including the last batch acquired from the United States in 2002.