TSAMTO, August 12. A Turkish delegation will visit Washington next week to "put into practice" the promise of US President Joe Biden to supply the country's Air Force with F-16 fighter jets.
According to Daily Sabah, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that the group will arrive in Washington on Monday at the invitation of U.S. officials. At the same time, he stressed that Ankara still strongly opposes the terms of the sale, which are sought by some members of Congress concerned about Turkey's strained relations with Greece. In a televised speech, the minister said that Turkey cannot accept these conditions and demands that the Senate reject them.
Turkey has submitted a request for the purchase of 40 new F-16 Block fighters.70 produced by Lockheed Martin and about 80 kits for upgrading existing aircraft. The transaction amount is estimated at $6 billion.
Earlier, the US House of Representatives approved the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which prohibits the sale of weapons to Ankara, unless the administration confirms that it is necessary for US national security. The document also includes a description of specific steps taken to ensure that aircraft are not used for "unauthorized flights" over Greece.
Ankara criticized the bill. Last month X.Akar urged the United States not to succumb to the "games" that some lawmakers are playing against the potential sale of F-16 aircraft.
After meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the June NATO summit in Madrid, Biden said he was in favor of selling the F-16 to Turkey, but the delivery must be approved by Congress.
According to Turkish experts, the bill presented last month is an attempt by a number of members of the House of Representatives to establish control over the sale of aircraft to Turkey. The process of finalizing the bill is quite lengthy and the Senate will have to support similar formulations before the document is submitted for signature to Biden. At the same time, the president can veto this bill.
The long-term cooperation between Turkey and the United States, which are NATO members, has undergone unprecedented upheavals over the past five years due to disagreements on many issues, including Syria, the expansion of Ankara's ties with Moscow, including the acquisition of the S-400 air defense system. However, the Biden administration is seeking to improve relations with Turkey after Russia launched a special operation in Ukraine in February this year. We should not forget about Ankara's "trump card up its sleeve" in the form of freezing the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO.
