Turkey’s Defense Minister Yasar Guler said his country will be procuring 40 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets, saying that Germany, which had long objected to their sale, responded positively to the Turkish request with the help of the three other NATO countries, Britain, Italy and Spain, which are part of the consortium.

In an interview with the Turkish TV station TV100 and in response to the question whether he expects an acceleration of the procedures regarding the issue of the US F-16 fighter jets under the Trump presidency, Guler said: “Our relations with our American friends are very positive. We want to buy 40 F-16 Vipers, the contracts have been signed. We will also buy 40 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft. Germany resisted for a long time, but with the positive contribution of our NATO friends, Britain, Italy and Spain, Germany responded positively.”

Asked by the reporter about Greek-Turkish relations, the Turkish defense minister replied, “Our president has developed a very positive relationship with the Greek prime minister. And indeed they have taken very important steps to turn the Aegean into a sea of friendship and not hostility. Of course, it is our duty to support that. Our foreign minister is doing very important work on this. They are having quite good and serious talks with the Greek Foreign Minister and we expect that they will be positive. And we, of course, providing all kinds of support, are making efforts to make this move that our President has initiated move forward.”

On the Cyprus issue, he argued that “the two-state solution is now an uncompromising solution for us” and accused the Republic of Cyprus of seeking new roles for itself. “At a time when genocidal actions continue in Gaza, it is opening and trying to open military bases. It claims that it is trying to direct aid actions or something like that. However, in the future, this may even work against her,” he said.