Washington to Proceed with Transfer of F-16 Fighter Jets to Turkey, says US National Security Adviser
VILNIUS, July 11 (Reuters) – U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan announced on Tuesday that Washington will continue with the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey in consultation with Congress. This comes one day after Ankara granted permission for Sweden to join NATO.
Turkey, which had been a major obstacle in Sweden’s path to NATO membership, had previously requested to purchase $20 billion worth of Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-16 fighters and around 80 modernization kits for its existing warplanes.
Ahead of a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sullivan stated that U.S. President Joe Biden “had been clear that he supports the transfer.” He emphasized that Biden has not placed any conditions on the transfer and intends to proceed with it, although no specific timing details were provided.
Previously, Bob Menendez, the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a Democrat, had blocked the transfer. However, he has been in talks with the Biden administration and stated that he could make a decision on lifting the hold in the next week.
Both Turkish officials and the Biden administration have denied any link between Turkey’s approval of Sweden’s NATO accession and the F-16 sale during months of negotiations to address Turkish opposition.
However, some diplomats and analysts believe that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan used the possibility of Swedish membership to pressure Washington on the warplanes, and that a deal was struck with Biden.
Camille Grand, a defense specialist at the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank, commented that “There seems to have been a big push by the Biden administration to allow Turkey to modernize its air force and acquire new F-16s.”
Ankara had previously accused Sweden of not doing enough against individuals it considers terrorists, particularly members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is deemed a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union, and the United States. However, in a joint statement issued by Turkey and Sweden on Monday, Sweden reiterated its commitment not to support Kurdish groups and expressed active support for revitalizing Turkey’s EU accession process.
Russian officials have expressed concern over Sweden’s expected NATO accession, claiming it would have negative implications for Russia’s security and promising a response.
The timing of the F-16 transfer and Sweden’s NATO accession remains uncertain. Turkey’s parliament is not due to convene until after the summer, and Hungary still needs to ratify the accession treaty. However, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto stated that the ratification was merely a technical issue.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg assured that Erdogan had agreed to push for ratification in parliament as soon as possible, but did not provide a specific timeframe. It took two weeks for Turkey’s parliament to ratify Finland’s membership after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 prompted the two Nordic nations to consider their security.
Reporting by Steve Holland and Justyna Pawlak; Editing by John Irish, Nick Macfie, Heather Timmons, and Devika Syamnath