Ankara: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer held a phone conversation to discuss the progress on procuring Eurofighter aircraft. The discussion covered bilateral relations between Turkey and the United Kingdom, along with regional and global issues, as confirmed by Turkey's Communications Directorate on X.

According to Anadolu Agency, the talks highlighted the positive impact of Eurofighter jet procurement on Turkey-UK cooperation. Turkey, which has NATO's second-largest military force, plans to acquire 40 Eurofighter jets, a project involving the UK, Germany, Italy, and Spain as manufacturers. While the UK has been eager to advance the sale, and all manufacturing partners except Germany have been supportive, the deal has faced delays. Recently, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz indicated progress towards potentially selling these jets to Turkey.

In addition to military procurement, President Erdogan expressed hope that negotiations to update the Free Trade Agreement between Turkey and the UK would be concluded by the end of the year. He also addressed the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, stressing the urgent need for humanitarian aid to prevent starvation-related deaths and called for immediate action to facilitate aid delivery.