TSAMTO, March 6. Turkey may refuse to purchase American F-16s and consider options for their replacement. This was stated in an interview with RIA Novosti by a member of the Security and Foreign Policy Council under the President of Turkey, Chagry Erhan.
Earlier, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, in an interview with the Turkish NTV channel, admitted that the United States cannot sell F-16 fighter jets to Turkey without congressional approval. To resolve the issue, it is necessary to eliminate the concerns of legislators, he noted.
"I believe that after the earthquakes, Turkey will refuse the request for F-16s, because their total cost is $ 20 billion," explained Ch.Erhan.
According to the interlocutor of the agency, the Turkish government made a mistake by asking Washington for fighter jets, which Congress still refuses to provide under "some pretext", and which, in his opinion, are "outdated and uncompetitive compared to other aircraft."
"Turkey should immediately change its decision on the F-16. For example, there was an option with the F-35 on the table. Turkey had expectations from the program. Now there are other options, for example, a Chinese plane that was sold to Pakistan, Russian planes, as well as a Eurofighter fighter," Ch. told RIA Novosti.Erhan.
