“Turkey and F-16s” What did US lawmakers ask Biden?
U.S. lawmakers have urged President Joe Biden‘s administration not to sell F-16 fighter jets to Turkey and expressed confidence that Congress will block the deal.
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In a letter to Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, 11 members of the House of Representatives expressed “deep concern” about recent reports that Turkey may purchase 40 new Lockheed Martin F-16 aircraft and 80 upgrading equipment for the same model. The letter is dated October 25th.
“Following President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s announcement in September that Turkey would buy another S-400 missile defense system, we cannot endanger our national security by sending US-made aircraft to an ally that continues to act as an adversary,” the lawmakers wrote.
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The White House has not yet responded to a request for comment, and a State Department spokesman said that the department does not comment on communications with Congress.
“We are confident that Congress will stand together to prevent any such exports if these plans go forward, but the United States cannot afford to transfer any sophisticated military equipment to the government of Turkey at this time”, the letter said.
“The partnership between the two NATO member states has gone through a rough patch in the past five years due to differences over Syria, Ankara’s closer ties with Moscow, its naval ambitions in the Mediterranean, US accusations against a state-owned Turkish bank, and a decline in rights and freedoms in Turkey“.
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Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Turkey had asked the United States to buy 40 F-16 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin and about 80 upgrading equipment for its current aircraft.
“Ankara has previously ordered more than 100 Lockheed Martin-produced F-35s, but the United States excluded Turkey from the program after it acquired Russian S-400s“.
