US approves sale of F-16s to Turkey, ending months of negotiations

The United States on Friday (Jan 26) approved the sale of F-16 warplanes to Turkey. In a statement, the US State Department said that Turkey would get 40 new F-16s and upgrades to 79 of the jets in its existing fleet. As required by American law, the State Department notified Congress of the agreement, as well as a separate $8.6 billion sale of 40 F-35s to Greece.

A report by the news agency AFP said that Turkey’s air force would benefit from new F-16s, as it has suffered from Ankara’s expulsion from the US-led F-35 joint strike fighter program in 2019 over Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to acquire an advanced Russian missile defence system.

After the transfer of the formal notification by the State Department, Congress has 15 days to object to the sale, after which it is considered final.

Washington’s approval comes after Turkey ratified Sweden’s NATO membership on Tuesday. President Erdogan initially objected to Sweden’s NATO bid over Stockholm’s perceived acceptance of Kurdish groups that Ankara views as “terrorist.”

Stockholm responded by tightening its anti-terrorism legislation and taking other security steps demanded by Erdogan. Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Ankara that the Swedish candidacy’s ratification could help break congressional resistance to the F-16 sale.

Turkey first requested the fighter jets in Oct 2021, but its delay in approving Sweden’s NATO bid had been a major obstacle to winning congressional approval for the sale.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is one of the four key committees in the US that needs to approve arms transfers. On Friday, the committee’s chair Democratic Senator Ben Cardin highlighted that the approval of the sale of F-16s was a difficult decision.

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“My approval of Turkey’s request to purchase F-16 aircraft has been contingent on Turkish approval of Sweden’s NATO membership. But make no mistake: This was not a decision I came to lightly,” Senator Cardin said. 

Turkey needs to urgently improve its human rights record, cooperate better on holding Russia accountable for its invasion in Ukraine and help lower the temperature in the Middle East, Cardin added.

“My concerns have been strongly and consistently conveyed to the Biden administration as part of our ongoing engagement, and I am encouraged by the productive direction of their discussions with Turkish officials to address these issues,” he added.

(With inputs from agencies)