According to people familiar with the situation, the Biden administration has informed Congress that it is preparing a prospective $20 billion sale of F-16 fighter fighters to Turkey. This immediately drew the ire of a top US legislator who has long opposed the trade. Top US lawmaker objects to potential F-16 sale to Turkey.
According to three sources, top US lawmaker objects to potential F-16 sale to Turkey. The State Department informed the Senate and House of Representatives committees in charge of regulating arms sales on Thursday that it intended to move forward with the proposed agreement.
Turkiye, a NATO member, asked for 40 Lockheed Martin Corp. F-16 fighters and almost 80 modernization kits for its current warplanes in October 2021. The two parties just finished their technical negotiations.
The Biden administration has stated that it is in favour of the sale and has been in informal contact with Congress for months in an effort to get their support. But so far, it has been unable to obtain a green light.
“As I have repeatedly made clear, I strongly oppose the Biden administration’s proposed sale of new F-16 aircraft to Turkey,” Senator Bob Menendez, Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement.
Congress is also not expected to accept the sale while it is still under informal assessment because Turkey has not yet ratified Sweden and Finland’s accession to NATO.
In reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the two countries terminated their decades-long neutrality last May and asked to join NATO. Turkiye opposed and charged the countries with harbouring militants, including members of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and demanded action be taken.
Ibrahim Kalin, the main foreign policy advisor and spokesperson for Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, claimed that Washington’s demands for the fighter aircraft delivery were “endless” at a press conference on Saturday.
“If they keep pushing Turkiye in other directions with F-16 (and) F-35 sanctions, and then Turkiye reacts, they blame Turkiye again, then that’s not a fair game,” Kalin said. “It looks like their list of demands is an endless. There’s always something.”
The announcement, which was originally made by the Wall Street Journal, comes as Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu gets ready to travel to Washington for talks on Wednesday. The two NATO partners are at odds on a number of issues, including Syria and the purchase of weapons.
The administration may potentially proceed with a formal announcement after the informal review, during which committee heads may voice queries or objections over the transaction. A senior US official, though, expressed his “doubtfulness” that the administration would be able to move forward without Menendez dropping his opposition.
Erdogan was disregarding human rights and democratic norms and engaging in “alarming and destabilising behaviour in Turkiye and against neighbouring NATO allies,” Menendez said in his statement.
“Until Erdogan ceases his threats … and begins to act like a trusted ally should, I will not approve this sale.”
Menendez also said he welcomed news of the sale of new F-35 fighter aircraft for Greece, referring to Athens as a “trusted NATO ally” and saying the sale “strengthens our two nations’ abilities to defend shared principles including our collective defence, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”
Turkiye’s 2019 purchase of Russian air defence systems caused Ankara to be expelled from the F-35 programme and enraged the US Congress. Congress’s opinion is also influenced by disagreements with Washington over Syria policy and Turkey’s record on human rights and freedom of expression.
