ANKARA — Germany’s outgoing government will defer a decision on the sale of Eurofighter Typhoon jets to Turkey to the incoming government, official German sources suggested to Al-Monitor following media reports that Berlin blocked the previously approved sale due to domestic political events inside Turkey.
The German government, led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, blocked the sale largely due to the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, Germany’s Handelsblatt reported last week, citing several sources familiar with internal government discussions. Imamoglu, a presidential contender from the main opposition Republican People’s Party and a key rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was arrested on corruption charges last month, fueling further fears over Turkey’s democratic backsliding.
“The federal government generally does not comment on internal governmental deliberations,” a source within the German government told Al-Monitor on Wednesday on condition of anonymity, adding, “The acting federal government will refrain from making any decisions on far-reaching arms export control matters that would preempt those of the future federal government.”
Germany’s outgoing government, led by Scholz, is slated to hand over to the new government to be formed by conservative leader Friedrich Merz on May 6 after federal elections were held in late February.
Turkey publicly declared its bid to acquire 40 Eurofighter Typhoon jets — manufactured by a European consortium of the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain and Germany — last year. After initially objecting to the sale, Germany, the sole holdout of the group, approved it last November, Turkish officials announced at the time.
A price offer by the European consortium for the sale reached Ankara, the Turkish Defense Ministry said last month, though the figure has not been made public.
But Imamoglu’s arrest appears to have stalled the sale. The opposition leader, who denies any wrongdoing, was jailed on March 23 on corruption charges following his detention on March 19. Government critics believe the arrest was politically motivated, aimed at sidelining a key Erdogan rival ahead of presidential elections in 2028 that will likely be held sooner. Imamoglu remains behind bars awaiting an indictment, though no timeline has been made available.
Scholz last month described the Istanbul mayor’s arrest as a “very, very bad sign” for Turkey’s relations with the European Union. He said the move was “depressing for democracy in Turkey, but certainly also depressing for the relationship between Europe and Turkey.”
Scholz, who is leading a minority caretaker government coalition composed of his Social Democrats and the Greens and formerly the pro-business Free Democrats, which left the government in November, is set to hand over his duties to Merz, who has advocated for closer defense cooperation with Turkey as part of strengthening collective European security.
“Turkey has one of the largest armies in NATO and is therefore indispensable for our defense community,” he said in February ahead of his election victory.
“European NATO allies should engage in a strategic dialogue with Turkey on how we can better pursue our common foreign policy interests,” he added.
Turkey, which has the second-largest standing army in NATO, raised its request to buy twin engine, supersonic Eurofighter jets after it was blocked from acquiring next-generation F-35 fighter jets due to its 2019 purchase of the Russian S-400 defense missile system during President Donald Trump’s first term. Turkey is seeking to modernize its air force fleet, whose most recent additions are F-16s. The country’s current fleet has roughly 250 F-16s, including the latest batch acquired from the United States in 2002.
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