A previous meeting between Biden (right) and Erdogan (Reuters)
US President Joe Biden sent a letter to members of Congress yesterday, Wednesday, in which he informed them of his intention to begin the official notification process for the sale of F-16 aircraft manufactured by Lockheed Martin to Turkey as soon as Ankara completes approval of Sweden’s application to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). After the Turkish Parliament approved the request.
A US official said that Biden urged Congress in a letter addressed to senior Republican and Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee to approve the sale “without delay.”
The value of the deal to sell F-16 aircraft and approximately 80 sets of equipment to modernize Turkey’s existing fighters is $20 billion.
Yesterday, the US State Department urged Ankara to proceed to complete approval of Sweden's request, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's signature on the legislation, which will then be published in the Turkish Official Gazette.
Sweden's NATO accession document will also have to be sent to Washington to obtain Congressional approval for the aircraft sale.
The Turkish parliament approved Sweden's request to join NATO on Tuesday, removing a major obstacle to expanding the Western military alliance after a 20-month delay.
Turkey's reluctance to ratify was a major obstacle to obtaining congressional approval for the fighter jet deal, which Turkey requested in October 2021.
Last September, Erdogan expressed his country's annoyance that the US administration linked sales of F-16 aircraft to his country to Ankara's ratification of Sweden's application to join NATO.
Sweden and Finland submitted two applications to join NATO after the Russian war on Ukraine in February 2022, and while Finland gained membership last year, Sweden’s attempt was postponed due to Turkey and Hungary’s lack of ratification.
Source: Agencies