79 senators rejected the bill banning the sale of F-16 fighters, while only 13 approved (Reuters)
Today, Friday, the US Senate General Assembly rejected a bill banning the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, presented by Republican Senator Rand Paul.
The vote on the bill presented by Powell on February 5 led to the rejection of 79 senators, and the approval of only 13.
On January 26, the US State Department officially notified Congress of its approval of the sale of 40 fighters to Turkey, as well as the modernization of its current fleet.
On February 10, the official period specified for 15 days ended after the notification reached Congress, thus ending the most important stage in the deal to sell F-16 fighters to Turkey, as no senator expressed reservations about the deal to sell fighters to Turkey other than Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. .
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee also did not take any legal action consistent with Senator Powell's objection to the deal.
Turkey had requested from the United States 40 new F-16 Block 70 fighters, and equipment to modernize 79 fighters in the Turkish army fleet.
The sale process was stalled for months due to issues including: Turkey's refusal to approve Sweden's accession to NATO, before the Turkish parliament later agreed.
Türkiye had first requested the purchase in October 2021.
Source: Agencies