British Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed an agreement to sell Eurofighter jets to Nato member Turkey in a 10-year deal worth nearly US$11 billion after talks on Monday with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“This is a really significant deal, because it’s £8 billion (US$10.7 billion) worth of orders … These are jobs that will last for 10 years, making the (Eurofighter) Typhoons, so really big for our country,” Starmer said.
Britain’s defence ministry described the order, which involves 20 Eurofighter Typhoon planes, as the “biggest fighter jet deal in a generation”, saying it would strengthen Turkey’s combat capabilities and bolster “Nato’s strength in a key region”.
Starmer said the deal would “bolster security across Nato” and secure 20,000 British jobs, adding it included the option to supply more Eurofighters in the future.
Erdogan hailed the agreement as “a new symbol of the strategic relations” with Britain, and thanked the other members of the four-nation consortium that builds the jets: Germany, Italy and Spain.