Pakistan, June 26 -- Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that his country wants to rejoin the US F-35 stealth fighter jet program. He expressed hope for progress after recent talks with President Donald Trump. Erdogan spoke to reporters on his flight back from the NATO summit.

He clarified that Turkey never officially left the F-35 program. Instead, Ankara is now discussing with US officials about rejoining. Erdogan said technical-level negotiations have already started between the two countries.

The US had suspended Turkey from the F-35 program in 2020. This happened after Turkey bought the Russian S-400 air defense system, which raised security concerns in Washington. Despite this, Turkey was not just a buyer but also a ...