The United States cannot unilaterally remove Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program as the partnership agreement does not allow it, Turkey's head of Defense Industries Directorate said on Friday.
"No single country can say they don't want you and then remove you from the program," Ismail Demir told reporters.
"This isn't part of the agreement, this isn't something you can just say 'I exclude you' about. The F-35 project is a partnership and nowhere in the agreement does it allow a unilateral removal of one country," he said.
The United States says Turkey's S-400 acquisition poses a threat to Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35s. It has threatened to impose sanctions on Ankara under its Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
Demir said such sanctions could have a brief impact on Turkey's defense industry. "Our defense industry produces parts for the F-35, so in the event of sanctions being imposed, our industry would experience a rough patch, but we'll then get passed this," he said.
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