The Biden administration approved the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey after the Turkish government ratified Sweden’s joining NATO – AP News.
The State Department notified Congress of its approval of the $23 billion sale of F-16s to Turkey, as well as the accompanying $8.6 billion sale of advanced F-35 fighter jets to Greece.
The sale to Turkey comprises 40 new F-16 aircraft and equipment to modernise 79 aircraft from the existing F-16 fleet. The sale to Greece comprises 40 F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter aircraft and associated equipment.
Turkey has long sought to upgrade its F-16 fleet and has made ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership contingent on approval of the sale of the new aircraft. The Biden administration backed the sale despite opposition from some lawmakers because of human rights concerns in Turkey.
For instance, sen. Ben Cardin was initially wary of the administration’s move, but soon changed his mind, citing Turkey’s commitment to improving the situation: “I look forward to beginning this new chapter in our relationship with Turkey, expanding the NATO alliance, and working with our global allies in standing up to ongoing Russian aggression against its peaceful neighbours.”
Sweden had been waiting for more than a year for Turkey to approve its accession to the alliance because Istanbul felt Sweden was taking Turkey’s national security concerns, including its fight against Kurdish militants, extremely lightly.
Now Sweden’s formal accession to NATO now depends on Hungary, which is the latest NATO ally not to approve its membership.
