Turkey had been in talks for several years on buying 40 of the aircraft, which are constructed by a consortium from Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain.

The Typhoon jets are to be built in Britain and London is leading the negotiations.

But all members of the consortium must sign off on the sale and Germany, which has clashed with Turkey over Israel's war on Gaza, had objected.

However, the defence ministry had now "sent a written confirmation to the Turkish government confirming the approval of the export", government spokesman Stefan Kornelius told journalists in Berlin.

News outlet Der Spiegel reported that Chancellor Friedrich Merz had bowed to pressure from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, as the project is expected to support about 20,000 jobs in Britain.

After Germany gave the green light to the sale, the Turkish and British defence ministers signed a preliminary agreement in Istanbul on Wednesday for the delivery of the jets.

The sale "will strengthen the decades-long friendship between key NATO allies and will be an important step towards enhancing Turkey's advanced air combat capabilities", Turkey's defence ministry said.

British Defence Secretary John Healey said the deal would "strengthen NATO's collective defence, and boost both our countries' industrial bases by securing thousands of skilled jobs across the UK for years to come".

Turkey's request for the planes was submitted to the German government more than two years ago, but the two countries have since clashed over the war in Gaza.

Ankara has vocally criticised Israel's offensive in the Palestinian territory while Berlin has been a staunch supporter of Israel, although it has voiced some criticism over the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza.