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Warmest ties in years between NATO countries with biggest

armies

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Turkish leader hopes to overcome sanctions for F-35s

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Trump, Erdogan aligned on Syria - but not Israel

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Boeing ( BA ) aircraft among expected trade deals

By Mike Stone and Tuvan Gumrukcu

WASHINGTON/ANKARA, Sept 25 (Reuters) - U.S. President

Donald Trump will host President Tayyip Erdogan at the White

House on Thursday, where the Turkish leader hopes to leverage

the countries' warmest bilateral ties in years to convince

Washington to drop U.S. sanctions and allow it to purchase F-35

fighter jets.

Erdogan's first visit to the White House in about six years

comes at a time when Ankara is keen to take advantage of a U.S.

administration eager to make deals in return for big-ticket arms

and trade agreements.

The administration of former President Joe Biden kept Turkey

at arm's length partly over what it saw as the fellow NATO

member's close ties with Russia. Under Trump, who views Moscow

more favorably and has closer personal ties with Erdogan, Ankara

is hoping for a better relationship.

Trump and Erdogan - both seen as increasingly autocratic by

their critics at home - had a checkered relationship during the

Republican president's first term. But since his return to the

White House, their interests have aligned on Syria - source of

the biggest bilateral strain in the past - where the U.S. and

Turkey now both strongly back the central government.

They remain sharply at odds over U.S. ally Israel's attacks

on Gaza, which Ankara calls a genocide - a potential wild card

in what are otherwise expected to be friendly and transactional

talks in the Oval Office.

In his UN address on Tuesday, Erdogan, who has led Turkey

for 22 years, said that "anyone who fails to speak out and take

a stand against the barbarity in Gaza shares responsibility for

this atrocity".

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later told Fox News that

world leaders, including Erdogan, could "say what they want to

say but at the end of the day, when they want something done,

they want to come to the White House".

U.S. SANCTIONS BLOCK F-35 SALES

The mood shift has renewed Turkish hopes that Trump and

Erdogan, who have exchanged mutual praise, can find a way around

U.S. sanctions imposed by Trump himself in 2020 over Turkey's

acquisition of Russian S-400 missile defenses.

That, in turn, could pave the way for Ankara to buy Lockheed

Martin's ( LMT ) advanced F-35 fighter jets, for which it was

both a buyer and manufacturer until it was barred over the

S-400s.

"Despite expected resistance from U.S. Congress, a green

light for Turkish acquisition of F-35s is not inconceivable,

provided the political will is there on both sides and diplomats

are allowed to hammer out a framework that addresses all the

known issues," said Timur Soylemez, a former Turkish ambassador

with experience in Turkey-U.S. relations.

Trump said ahead of the meeting he expected F-35 talks "to

conclude positively".

Erdogan has said the defense industry, including the topic

of F-35s and ongoing negotiations over 40 F-16 jets Ankara also

wants, would be a focus of the meeting, along with regional

wars, energy and trade.

A U.S. official said Washington had in recent days drafted a

statement of intent - a document used to facilitate talks - for

several sales to Turkey, including the new F-16s that would

bolster its existing fleet.

Turkey asked for advanced equipment and modifications on the

F-16s in their order, making the jets cost more than a standard

F-35, the official said. But F-35s were omitted from the draft

statement because the U.S. cannot legally sell them while Turkey

has the S-400s, the person added.

Turkish government officials did not immediately comment on

the F-16 costs.

DEAL ON BOEING PLANES ALSO ON AGENDA

Turkey, NATO's second-largest army, wants to ramp up air

power to counter what it sees as growing threats in the Middle

East, Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea, where it

neighbours Russia and Ukraine.

In addition to the F-16s and F-35s, it also wants to procure

40 Eurofighter Typhoons - irking regional U.S. allies Israel and

Greece.

At the meeting, Trump is expected to highlight a Turkish

agreement to buy more than 200 Boeing Co ( BA ) aircraft, for

which Turkish Airlines is negotiating. The U.S. official told

Reuters the talks included 787 and 737 jetliners, and about $10

billion in GE aircraft engines.