Middle Israel: No one needs a tyrannical Turkey with F-35 fighter jets - opinion

Amotz Asa-El argues against the US selling F-35 jets to Turkey, citing Turkey's S-400 purchase, occupation of Cyprus, support for Hamas, and Islamist policies under Erdogan. He claims Turkey's military is large and its jailed population has grown from 50,000 to over 400,000, concluding that no one needs such a tyrannical Turkey.

Amotz Asa-El, a Hartman Institute fellow, argues in this opinion piece that the United States should not sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. He contends that Turkey, under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is a 'tyrannical' state that poses a threat to its neighbors and the West. Asa-El cites Turkey's purchase of the Russian S-400 air-defense system, its military occupation of northern Cyprus, its support for Hamas, and its Islamist domestic policies as reasons to oppose the deal. He also notes Turkey's large military, with over 2,200 battle tanks and nearly 1 million troops, and Erdogan's poem about mosques and minarets. The article claims that Turkey's jailed population has grown from 50,000 in 2002 to over 400,000 today, including political prisoners. Asa-El concludes that no one needs such a Turkey, not even the Turks themselves.