Turkey minister says govt working to get F-35 jets sanctioned through US Congress

U.S. officials are telling Turkey that it would be "impossible" to pass the sale of Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets through Congress due to Ankara's procurement of S-400 defence systems from Russia, but Turkey is working to resolve the issue, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Friday. Speaking at an interview with the state-owned Anadolu news agency, Akar said Turkey was trying to establish an environment where its purchase of S-400 missile defence systems from Russia did not impact its procurement of the F-35 jets.

Talks with the United States on purchasing Raytheon Co. Patriot defence systems are continuing, Akar said, adding that the S-400 systems would begin to be installed in October. 

(With inputs from agencies.)