Turkey and the United States are stepping up bilateral political contacts, as well as cooperation in energy and trade after the U.S. Congress approved a deal to sell F-16 fighter jets to Ankara. The agenda includes high-level and top-level visits, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the United States, Hurriyet newspaper writes.

On February 11, US Ambassador to Ankara Jeffrey Flake announced the approval by Congress of a deal for Turkey to purchase 40 new F-16s and 79 fighter modernization kits. Turkish leader Erdogan confirmed this information on February 12.

According to Hurriyet, the parties will now begin negotiations on the procedure for implementing the deal, in particular, it is planned to prepare three memoranda, determine the dates of deliveries of aircraft and modernization kits for fighters, and price parameters.