A planned sale of 40 F-16 fighter jets to Turkey that might help thaw relations with Ankara is rankling a top Senate Democrat.
Turkey was ousted from the United States’s F-35 program in 2019 after it purchased a Russian missile defense system. The country has also been a thorn in Washington’s side on matters pertaining to the Kurds in Syria, as well as whether Sweden and Finland should gain NATO membership. A request to Congress has not yet been made, but it is already facing some notable opposition.
FINLAND AND SWEDEN’S NATO AMBITIONS AT MERCY OF TURKEY AND HUNGARY
“As I have repeatedly made clear, I strongly oppose the Biden administration’s proposed sale of new F-16 aircraft to Turkey,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-NJ) said in a statement, per CNN. “President Erdogan continues to undermine international law, disregard human rights and democratic norms, and engage in alarming and destabilizing behavior in Turkey and against neighboring NATO allies.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has routinely elicited criticisms from the West for imprisoning journalists and cracking down on dissidents. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland sought NATO membership, but Ankara blocked it, much to the chagrin of its fellow NATO allies, including the U.S.
Ankara aired out a litany of grievances with Sweden and Finland joining NATO, including their support for Kurdish groups. Turkey considers its domestic Kurdistan Workers’ Party a terrorist organization and has bristled at Western support for other Kurdish groups across the region. Turkish officials recently warned the two countries they are running out of time to ratify their bids for NATO ahead of its May elections.
Congress appears unlikely to green-light the F-16 fighter jet sale if Turkey keeps blocking Finland’s and Sweden’s ascension into NATO. Turkey had requested 40 Lockheed Martin F-16s back in October 2021 to modernize its military, and detailed discussions between Washington and Ankara about the potential sale recently wrapped up, CNN reported.
President Joe Biden supports the sale, but it needs congressional approval and would become one of the largest warplane sales with Turkey in years. A timeline for a congressional request in the matter is not clear, but once the administration informs Congress of the planned sale, it will have about a month to block the deal via a joint resolution of disapproval.
“Until Erdogan ceases his threats, improves his human rights record at home — including by releasing journalists and political opposition — and begins to act like a trusted ally should, I will not approve this sale,” he added.
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The Biden administration is also mulling a possible sale of 40 F-35 warplanes to Greece, which has an acrimonious relationship with Turkey. Turkish officials cited Greece’s admittance into NATO when Ankara began frustrating Sweden’s and Finland’s NATO bids.
That proposed deal drew acclaim from Menendez.
“This defense capability is not only critical for a trusted NATO ally and enduring partner’s efforts to advance security and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean, but also strengthens our two nations’ abilities to defend shared principles including our collective defense, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law,” the New Jersey senator said.
