Senior US senator reiterates refusing to lift hold on F-16 to Turkey
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Senator Bob Menendez, Chairman of US Senate Foreign Relations Committee reiterated on Wednesday his refusal to approve the sale of 40 Block 70 F-16 fighter jets to Turkey despite Joe Biden administration’s announcement that it wants to move forward with the deal.
In January, the Biden administration announced its intention to sell F-16 fighter jets to Turkey for $20 billion. The sale also includes 80 modernization kits. Senator Menendez, at the time, said in a statement that he “strongly” opposes the proposal, adding that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan disregarded human rights and got involved in “alarming and destabilizing behavior in Turkey and against neighboring NATO allies.”
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters “President Biden has been clear consistently that he believes that, for the alliance and for the US-Turkey bilateral relationship, moving forward with the sale makes sense. Biden intends move forward with that transfer in consultation with Congress.”
“I’ve always said that the ratification of Sweden, which should naturally occur, is not the sine qua non of why I would lift the hold on F-16s,” Menendez said. “There’s bigger issues than just that alone.”
On July 11, Menendez said: “We’re having conversations with the administration. If they (Biden administration) can find a way to ensure that Turkey’s aggression against its neighbors ceases, which there has been a lull the last several months, that’s great but there has to be a permanent reality.”
Turkey has launched several aggressions against the neighbor, Syria, mainly the northern cities including Afrin, Tel Abyad and Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) where it occupied them following two separate military operations dubbed “Olive Branch” and “Peace Spring”. Additionally, it continues launching drone attacks against all the cities and towns of northern Syria and Iraq.
Turkish Air Force has frequently launched incursions into Greek airspace, and Erdogan is slated to attend the opening of a new airport in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus on Thursday, according to Defense News.
In April, Menendez was referring to a recent $259 million deal with Turkey for avionics software upgrades. The approval does not concern the $20 billion request from Turkey for new F-16s and nearly 80 upgrade kits.
“I’m opposed to F-16s, but this is not a sale of F-16s,” Menendez told Defense News after the State Department approved the avionics kit sale. “It’s a sale to ensure the interoperability of existing aircraft in the NATO command structure, and for that reason I support it.”