Germany took step toward clearing Turkey's Eurofighter jet buy, Turkish official says
ANKARA, Nov 14 (Reuters) -Germany has mandated its sales authority to work on the sale of Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets to Turkey after initially being opposed to the move, a Turkish defence ministry source said on Thursday, but added this did not mean the process was concluded.
Last year, Ankara said it was in talks with the Eurofighter consortium members Britain and Spain to buy 40 Typhoons, though Germany objected to the idea. It has since complained of a lack of progress on the issue over Berlin's reluctance.
Speaking at a briefing, the source said Germany had mandated its "Temporary Sales Authority" to work on the potential sale to Turkey, adding Ankara believed this will speed up the process of procuring the jets.
"Technical work is continuing regarding the procurement of the Eurofighter Typhoon jet, which can be an alternative to meet the operational needs of our Air Force," the person said, adding the issue would be on the agenda during British Defence Minister John Healey's visit to Ankara on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler said efforts by Britain, Italy and Spain had convinced Germany to give a "positive response" after "resisting for a long time", adding he did not believe the recent collapse of the German government would impact the process.
The Eurofighter Typhoon jets are built by a consortium of Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain, represented by companies Airbus AIR.PA, BAE Systems BAES.L and Leonardo LDOF.MI.
NATO member Turkey recently secured a deal to procure 40 F-16 fighter jets and 79 modernisation kits for its existing F-16s from the United States after a long-delayed process.
Ankara is also developing its own national combat aircraft KAAN.
Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Jonathan Spicer
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