US President Joe Biden has sent a letter to the heads of the foreign affairs committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives, in which he requests immediate approval of the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. Biden’s letter follows the Turkish parliament’s decision on Tuesday to ratify the treaty providing for Sweden’s NATO membership.
While Finland became a NATO member already in the spring of last year, Turkey and Hungary have not yet officially approved Sweden’s NATO membership. In addition to the parliament’s decision, the signature of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is also required to obtain Turkey’s official approval.
Turkey’s slow process to approve Sweden’s NATO membership has been a major obstacle to Ankara’s $20 billion F-16 sale. The Turkish government has officially expressed its desire to purchase it as early as October 2021, and Turkey also wants to modernize the old F-16 aircraft it already has. However, U.S. arms sales deals with other countries require approval from the heads of the foreign affairs committees of both houses of Congress.
The US State Department on Wednesday called on Erdogan to sign Sweden’s NATO membership agreement.
However, the State Department declined to comment on reports of Biden’s letter.
“President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken have been very clear about our support for the modernization of Turkey’s F-16s, which we see as a key investment in NATO interoperability. […] But I will not confirm or advance anything on the defense sales proposals until they have been formally notified to Congress,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said.
US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, downplayed hopes for quick approval of the jet sale, saying lawmakers still needed confirmation from Biden and Turkey. At the same time he considers the decision of the Turkish parliament to be positive.
“For most of the time President Erdogan has been in office, Turkey has been an unreliable NATO ally, so this is good news,” he said.
2024-01-25 05:38:00
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