The The New York Times According to his report, the United States recently indicated its willingness to sell modernized F-16 fighter jets to Turkey again, and thus came close to fulfilling the request of the old ally.
Although the parties basically emphasized that President Biden did not negotiate with Turkey in exchange for support for NATO expansion and that Turkey did not order the F-16s during the negotiations, ahead of the NATO summit in Madrid this week, Erdogan said the sale of the F-16 fighters would be a topic important in his meeting with Biden. In any case, the meeting between the two presidents contributed significantly to Turkey’s veto over Sweden and Finland’s request to join NATO on Tuesday night.
The timeline for a potential US-Turkey deal on combat aircraft is unclear, and the agreement is likely to require US Congressional approval.
Taking into account the geostrategic realities, Turkey, an important member of NATO for a long time, tried to maintain good relations with Russia in the recent period, and in this context, years ago, despite the opposition of the United States and NATO, decided to purchase one of the most Modern missile defense Sz-400. In response, the United States withdrew Turkey from the F-35 project, America’s newest and most advanced combat aircraft, and imposed sanctions.
The agreement on the new combat aircraft certainly helped a lot in softening the Turkish position on the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO, but the question is what else Turkey will try to use during the process, whether military interventions in Syria and Iraq, which are usually the West, we can expect. That would provoke his opposition.
Cover photo: Ali Atmaca / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
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