Before a meeting with his US counterpart Antony Blinken in Washington on Wednesday, Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu asserted that Turkey expected the US to approve the sale of 40 new F-16 fighter jets worth $20 billion, calling it important for not only Ankara, but also Washington and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
Though the joint statement mentioned “strengthening the US-Turkey defense partnership, including modernisation of Turkey’s F-16 fleet,” it did not clarify whether a decision was made.
The possibility of the US supplying F-35s to Greece could push Turkey to moderate on these key issues
— Samuel Ramani (@SamRamani2) January 18, 2023
Key supporters of F-35 sales to Greece in Congress, such as Bob Menendez, oppose F-16 sales to Turkey
Following the meeting, Çavuşoğlu told Turkish state-owned TV channel TRT, “What is important here is whether the [Biden] administration will be decisive or not.... If it displays a strong stance against any steps to prevent this, the issue would be resolved.”
Congress’ Opposition to F-16 Deal with Turkey
Though the Biden administration supports selling F-16 jets to Turkey and modernising its existing fleet, Congress has been “quite vocal” and has “strong opinions.”
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez, who is required to sign off on the agreement, has vowed to block the deal, owing to Turkey’s human rights abuses record, repeated attacks on US’ Kurdish allies in Syria, close relationship with Russia, and choice not to ratify the NATO membership bids of Finland and Sweden.
Turkey's FM says that Turkey "expects" the US to approve the sale of F16s to Turkey. State Spox says the Biden admin supports the sale but adds that the sales process includes congress & congress has "strong opinions" on this, i.e. some members don't support the sale.
— Kylie Atwood (@kylieatwood) January 18, 2023
However, Çavuşoğlu asserted that the Biden administration should not “bow down” on “such an important deal between two allies just because one person or a few people are blocking it.”
In this regard, US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price noted that Washington and Ankara share a “constructive” relationship. Price, however, acknowledged that the US remains “deeply concerned” with the issues, urging Ankara to “respect and ensure freedom of expression,” fair pretrial and trial guarantees, and judicial independence, and cease prosecutions.
In a similar vein, Blinken admitted, “We are close allies and partners; that doesn’t mean we don’t have differences, but when we have differences, precisely because we are allies and partners, we work through them in that spirit.”
Emphasizing that they appreciate Turkey's role in the Black Sea Grain Corridor Agreement, Bilinken said they would consider many regional problems, especially Ukraine and Turkey-US cooperation, as two allies.
— Gurbaksh Singh Chahal (@gchahal) January 19, 2023
US-Turkey’s “Unequivocal Support” for Ukraine
Both leaders “underlined their unequivocal support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity against Russia’s unacceptable war and reaffirmed their support to find a solution to end the war.”
Blinken particularly commended Turkey’s “exceptional role” in brokering the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
Finland and Sweden’s NATO Membership Bids
The pair also discussed implementing the trilateral memorandum signed by Finland, Sweden, and Turkey in June to advance Helsinki and Stockholm’s accession protocol to join NATO.
US officials told Turkey that if Sweden’s NATO bid progresses, then it could have a positive impact on Ankara’s F-16 deal at the Congress. Yet Blinken and others didn’t present it as a condition, Turkish FM adds
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) January 18, 2023
As part of the deal, Finland and Sweden vowed to stop supporting Kurdish militant groups and FETÖ and agreed to extradite extremists to Turkey.
Accordingly, last month, Çavuşoğlu said Finland and Sweden have not taken steps to fulfil their commitments as part of the June deal, saying Ankara expects more “concrete measure” from the two countries. Similarly, he said in November that as long as Turkey’s concerns are not respected, it will not accept Finland and Sweden’s NATO applications.