TSAMTO, October 28. US lawmakers from Democrats and Republicans have called on the administration of President Joe Biden to block the sale of Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets to Turkey.
According to the Al Arabiya news agency, eleven members of the House of Representatives, led by Nicole Malliotakis from the Republican Party and representative from the Democratic Party Caroline Meloni, wrote an official letter to Joe Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, in which they expressed their concern about reports of the sale of F-16 to Turkey and said they would block such a sale in Congress.
"After President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's September announcement that Turkey will acquire an additional batch of Russian S-400 air defense systems, we cannot afford to jeopardize our national security by sending American-made aircraft to an ally under the treaty that continues to behave like an adversary," the lawmakers wrote.
The letter notes that "as long as President Erdogan promotes his expansionist project in the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey will continue to threaten our national security and the security of our closest allies in the region – Greece, Israel and Cyprus."
"We urge you to act in our national interests and in the name of stability in the Eastern Mediterranean by refusing to upgrade the aging Turkish Air Force fighter fleet, and we look forward to your response," the lawmakers added.
Recall that in mid-October, Turkey turned to the United States with a request for the possibility of purchasing 40 new Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters and about 80 modernization kits to improve the characteristics of this type of aircraft in service.
As sources told Reuters, thus, the US NATO ally expects to modernize its Air Force after the failure of the purchase of fifth-generation F-35 Lightning-2 fighters.
The F-16 deal, worth billions of dollars, is currently being evaluated under the procedures regulated by the Foreign Military Sales program and must be approved by the State Department and the US Congress.
The representative of the State Department declined to comment on the published information, referring to the fact that in accordance with the current policy, the State Department does not discuss projects for the sale of PVN until they are officially notified to Congress. The Turkish Embassy in Washington also declined to comment.
For reference: Ankara has ordered more than 100 Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft, but was excluded from the program in 2019 after the acquisition of Russian S-400 air defense systems.
According to the publication, it will probably be difficult for Turkey to get approval for the sale of the F-16 in the US Congress, since in recent years the attitude of American congressmen to this country has deteriorated sharply, primarily due to the purchase of the S-400 air defense system and the human rights situation.
Ankara's purchase of the S-400 air defense system entailed other sanctions from the United States. In December 2020, Washington blacklisted the Directorate of Defense Industry of Turkey (SSB), its head Ismail Demir and three other employees.
Since then, the United States has repeatedly warned Turkey against further purchases of Russian weapons, but a week earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara still intends to purchase a second batch (second regimental set) in Russia The S-400 air defense system, which may aggravate the discord with Washington.
Earlier, Ankara said that it hopes to improve relations with the United States under President Joe Biden. In May 2021, it became known that Washington still provided the necessary permits for the sale of LHTEC CTS800-4A engines to Turkey to equip the initial batch of six T129 helicopters intended for the Armed Forces of the Philippines. However, according to an anonymous Turkish source, at that time the license was granted directly by the US State Department, and no Congressional authorization was required for its issuance, since the sale amount was less than $ 25 million.
Both parties in the US Congress have enough forces to push the Joe Biden administration to further increase pressure on Ankara, primarily in connection with the purchase of Russian weapons.
Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also said that Ankara is determined to return $ 1.4 billion already paid by the United States for F-35 fighter jets, the sale of which Washington blocked.
In case of refusal to sell American F-16 aircraft, the Turkish president announced his intention to purchase Russian-made fighters, Su-35 or Su-57.
