ANKARA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Turkey will retaliate if the United States suspends delivery of F-35 fighter jets, Turkish Foreign Ministry warned Friday.
A United States Senate committee bill aiming to prevent Turkey from purchasing Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets is "against the spirit of our alliance with the U.S.," the ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy told reporters at a press conference.
"This is not a program managed merely by the United States. It's a multinational program and we expect everybody to fulfill their obligations," he said.
If the United States takes such steps, "we will have to respond," the spokesman warned.
Aksoy also vowed protection of Turkey's firms following a decision by the U.S. Treasury Department to impose sanctions on several Iranian and Turkish companies in a move targeting Iranian airlines.
On Thursday, a U.S. Senate committee passed a bill to block Turkey from purchasing Lockheed Martin F-35 jets over its detention of the U.S. priest Andrew Brunson.
The bill also demands steps against Turkey's agreement with Russia to buy S-400 surface-to-air missiles in December 2017.
Lockheed Martin was expected to deliver the first F-35 fighter jet to Turkey on June 21.
Turkey is scheduled to buy more than 100 F-35 fighter jets, while negotiating with Washington over the purchase of Patriot missiles.?
