Retired ambassador and deputy chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Ünal Çeviköz said on Thursday that Turkey cannot turn to international arbitration in the event of expulsion from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.

“Article 17.1 of the agreement about the F-35 project stipulates that disputes among participants should be settled through exchange of views and may not be subject to arbitration before national or international courts,” he said on Twitter. “We should keep this in mind just in case.”

Çeviköz’s tweet included a link to a report about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent remarks that Turkey would seek international arbitration if the United States decides to expel Turkey from the F-35 program.

“We have already paid them $1.25 billion for the F-35 project. If they do make such a wrong move, we will take it to the international arbitration court because we will want them to pay us back the money we have spent so far,” Erdoğan said in an interview with the Japanese Nikkei newspaper.

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