ANKARA — Turkey is in talks with Qatar and Oman to acquire used Eurofighter Typhoon jets as part of its broader effort to modernize and strengthen its air force, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in remarks released on Friday.

The move is aimed at bridging the gap in Turkey’s air capabilities until the country’s indigenously developed fifth-generation fighter, the KAAN, becomes fully operational.

“We have held discussions with our Qatari and Omani counterparts regarding the purchase of Eurofighter warplanes,” Erdogan told journalists during his return flight from a Gulf tour that included stops in Qatar and Oman. “Negotiations on this technically detailed issue are progressing positively,” he added, according to an official transcript shared by his office.

In July, Turkey and the United Kingdom signed a preliminary agreement covering the potential sale of Eurofighter Typhoons, a multirole aircraft jointly produced by a European consortium comprising the U.K., Germany, Italy, and Spain. While those talks continue, Ankara is also exploring the purchase of secondhand Eurofighters from friendly Gulf nations to meet its short-term defense requirements.

During Erdogan’s recent three-day tour of Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman, the Turkish leader oversaw the signing of several cooperation agreements—including in defense though details were not disclosed.

Turkey, a key NATO member, has been actively diversifying its defense partnerships while pursuing reentry into the U.S.-led F-35 fighter jet program, from which it was expelled in 2019 following its acquisition of the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system. Washington had argued that the S-400 posed a security threat to the F-35 platform.