Erdoğan: Germany, Britain positive on Eurofighter jets sale | Israel using Druze-Bedouin fighting as excuse to invade Syrian lands

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Germany and Britain took a positive stance on the sale of Eurofighter jets to Türkiye, adding that Ankara wants to finalise the purchase as soon as possible.

Türkiye has been in talks on buying Eurofighter Typhoon jets, which are built by a consortium of Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain, represented by companies Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo.

"The British and Germans are approaching this positively. God willing, I believe we will receive our jet planes as soon as possible," Erdoğan was cited as telling reporters on a flight from northern Cyprus.

"In my meetings with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, I saw they also approached the issue positively and hopefully we will take this step," he said, according to a transcript of his comments published on Monday.

Erdoğan: Sharaa showed a strong stance against Israel

Erdoğan praised his Syrian counterpart, Ahmed al-Sharaa, for showing a strong stance and not compromising on Syria's conflict with Israel, and said Sharaa took a "very positive" step by reaching an understanding with the Druze.

Hundreds of Bedouin civilians were evacuated from Syria's predominantly Druze city of Sweida on Monday as part of a U.S.-backed truce meant to end fighting that has killed hundreds of people, state media and witnesses said.

In comments to Turkish media released on Monday, Erdoğan said Syria's government had established some control in Sweida and the country's south with around 2,500 soldiers, with all but one Druze faction agreeing to respect the ceasefire during talks in Amman.

He also told reporters on his flight returning from northern Cyprus that the United States now understood it needed to "own" the issue more, warning that the main issue was Israel using the fighting as an excuse to invade Syrian lands.