Image source: topwar.ru
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, at a meeting with his Finnish counterpart Antti Kaikkonen in Ankara, called on allies in the North Atlantic Alliance, including Finland, to make more efforts in the fight against terrorism. According to the head of the defense department, this should be facilitated by the modernization of the Turkish Armed Forces.
Akar noted.
The Minister also mentioned the issue of further deliveries of American-made F-16s, noting that the process of additional purchase of 40 such aircraft, as well as the modernization of 79 existing fighters, will be completed soon. According to him, Ankara has received a clear signal from its partners from the United States on this issue, in particular, from the American Defense Minister Lloyd Austin, but deliveries have not yet begun.
At the same time, the Turkish Minister of National Defense stressed that the destruction of terrorists, including with the help of F-16, is the main priority for his country. In this regard, Ankara calls on the United States to begin supplying its fighters for the needs of the Turkish Air Force as soon as possible.
Earlier, the Turkish authorities announced that they would support the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO only if they fulfilled a number of conditions, in particular, the ban on the activities of organizations that are recognized as terrorist in Turkey. Among them are the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), as well as the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front, the organization of the Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen FETÖ, who is accused of involvement in the development of a coup plan that almost cost Erdogan not only his chair, but also his life. Gulen is in the United States, and Washington leaves all Turkish requests for his extradition unanswered.
