US: Sales Of F-16 To Turkey Not Related To Sweden's Access To NATO

PHOTO OF ILLUSTRATION/UNSPLASH/John Torcasio

JAKARTA - The United States says the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey does not depend on Sweden's potential entry into NATO, but a number of US Congressmen see the link between the two issues.

"We are not sure that the two things are related or must be related," Foreign Ministry spokesman Matthew Miller said during a press conference, answering Anadolu journalists' questions about the current status of the potential sale.

Repeating a previous statement from the US government, Miller said Washington explained to the Turkish government that the sale of the F-16 should be approved by the US Congress.

"And there are some members of Congress who believe that these two things are closely related. So even though we don't believe that these two things are related, we are also not the only perpetrators in this process. We explain this directly to Turkish officials," he said.

Miller did not provide the latest news regarding the latest line of sales.

Miller reiterated the US position over Sweden's accession and said it "must be approved as soon as possible," adding that the US respects President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's support for it.

Ankara requested F-16 fighter jets and modernization equipment from Washington in October 2021, which is awaiting the green light from the US Congress.

The $6 billion deal will include sales of 40 jets and modernization equipment for 79 fighter aircraft already in the Turkish Air Force inventory.

Although the Biden government has repeatedly stated that it wants to continue selling the F-16 to Turkey, US lawmakers have pledged to cancel the deal due to several demands, including making the purchase dependent on Ankara's approval of Sweden's offer to become a NATO member.

Biden's government officials, including Foreign Minister Antony Blinken, previously said the US government had not linked these two things.

However, President Erdogan on Monday, September 11, after brief talks with Biden on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in New Delhi said that the US was making such a connection, and it made Turkey 'alert'.

"We had a brief talk with Biden. We also discussed the F-16 issue," Erdogan said at a press conference after the G20 summit in India.

"Unfortunately, my friends continued to bring up Sweden when talking about the F-16 issue. An approach that irritated us," he continued.