Erdoğan says he is ‘likely’ to meet Biden in Glasgow with F-35 top on agenda

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said he would meet his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, on the margins of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow.

"The agenda for Rome and Glasgow appears to have changed. We are likely to meet in Glasgow instead of Rome," Erdoğan on Oct. 26 told journalists on board his return flight from a trip to Azerbaijan.

Erdoğan said he will discuss with the U.S. leader the $1.4-billion payment plan for the F-35 fighter jets that Washington refused to deliver to Turkey after Ankara purchased Russian-made S-400 defense systems.

The most important subject in this meeting would be the F-35 issue, he said, noting that there are signals from Washington to deliver the F-16 warplanes in return for Turkey's money paid for F-35 programme.

"There is some information we receive at the lower level. Some information about giving us F-16s… The information we received is that there is a plan to pay for this with them. Is this true or not; we will learn from them. At the highest level, of course, it would be appropriate for me to talk to Mr. Biden. If so, we will have reached an agreement accordingly," Erdoğan stated.

The meeting, which would be the two leaders' second since Biden was elected president, comes as Turkey seeks compensation after Washington kicked Turkey out of its F-35 fighter jet programme for buying the Russian missile defence system.

The meeting would also come hot on the heels of a new diplomatic spat that saw Erdoğan threaten to expel the U.S. and nine other Western ambassadors over their statement regarding the release of a jailed Turkish businessman.

His threat to expel 10 ambassadors was not "a show of strength to someone, it just meant that the ambassadors...