This file photo shows an F-35 joint strike fighter, marked AA-1, landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California, on Oct. 23, 2008. (Photo: U.S. Air Force / Senior Airman Julius Delos Reyes)
Axios: Turkey's Erdoğan criticizes Biden, asks for money back on F-35
Fresh off his first visit with Vladimir Putin in over a year, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused a top Biden official of "supporting terrorism" and demanded the U.S. pay $1.4 billion for kicking Turkey out of a stealth fighter jet program.
Why it matters: Erdoğan's belligerence and deepening cooperation with Russia is sending a key U.S. relationship in the wrong direction, serving up yet another foreign policy headache for President Biden.
Driving the news: Speaking to reporters on his way back from Sochi, Erdoğan condemned Brett McGurk, the White House coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa and former anti-ISIS envoy, for allying the U.S. with Kurdish militias in Syria that Turkey considers a top threat to national security.
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Update #1: Turkey wants compensation for ouster from US-led jet program (AP)
Update #2: Turkey Demands U.S. Deliver Fighter Jets or Return $1.4 Billion Payment for Them (Newsweek)
WNU Editor: Turkish President has calculated that the benefits of buying weapon systems from Russia is worth having a troubled relationship with the U.S. .... Erdoğan believes S-400 purchase worth tensions with US (Daily Sabah).
