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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will travel to the United States from September 20 to 23 to take part in the general debate of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Türkiye's Directorate of Communications announced on X on Saturday.
Erdogan is scheduled to deliver his address on September 22, the opening day of the general debate, which is being held this year under the theme "Rebuilding trust, managing transformation, a United Nations that delivers for everyone," according to the announcement.
During the visit, Erdogan is expected to hold bilateral talks with the UN secretary-general as well as heads of state and government from various countries, the Directorate of Communications said.
He is also expected to attend a series of programs involving representatives of Turkish citizens living in the United States, Turkish-American business circles and think tank representatives, according to the statement.
The visit is expected to include a meeting between Erdogan and U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the General Assembly, according to Tom Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Türkiye and special presidential envoy for Syria and Iraq, who said as much at an event in Istanbul two days before the Turkish announcement.
Erdogan and Trump last met in person at the NATO summit in Ankara, where the two leaders held talks at the Presidential Complex on July 7 covering the F-35 fighter jet program, engines for Türkiye's KAAN fighter jet program, and sanctions imposed on Türkiye under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, known as CAATSA.
Speaking to reporters after that meeting, Trump described the state of U.S.-Türkiye relations in favorable terms, saying he and Erdogan had "good chemistry" and calling Türkiye "a very powerful country militarily" under Erdogan's leadership.
He also said he intended to remove the CAATSA sanctions on Türkiye, telling reporters, "We don't want to sanction our friends," and that he was working with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the matter.
On the question of restoring Türkiye's access to the F-35 program, Trump said in July that a decision was forthcoming, calling the aircraft "the best plane by far" and saying it was "certainly something we will consider."
The United States removed Türkiye from the F-35 program in 2019 after Ankara's acquisition of the Russian-made S-400 air defense system, a move Türkiye has disputed, arguing the S-400 and F-35 systems can operate without conflict and that it met all of its obligations under the program.
Ahead of the July NATO summit, the New York Times reported that Trump was expected to signal willingness to restore Türkiye's F-35 access, though congressional and legal obstacles tied to the S-400 purchase remained.
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham told Türkiye Today around that time that he supported a possible resumption of F-35 deliveries to Türkiye, while acknowledging the prospect could face resistance in Congress, and he described Türkiye as "a great ally and the only Muslim nation in NATO."
A U.S. congressman said earlier this month that he believed Erdogan and Trump were likely to meet during the General Assembly session, a prediction that Barrack's remarks in Istanbul now appear to bear out.
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