The US administration has reached out to Congress to seek approval for the sale of F-16 fighters and upgrade kits to Turkey, totaling $20 billion. This information comes from sources cited by Reuters.
According to these sources, a letter requesting approval was sent to lawmakers on behalf of the US authorities.
Deputy spokesperson for the State Department, Vedant Patel, stated that Washington does not guarantee the delivery of F-16s to Ankara. He noted that the decision on this matter lies with Congress.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan links Sweden’s NATO membership approval to the decision on selling F-16s to Ankara by the US Congress. Several years ago, Turkey requested 40 F-16s and 80 Block 70 upgrade kits for its fighters from the US. Earlier, the US Secretary of State stated that some members of Congress associate the deliveries with Ankara’s steps necessary for Sweden’s NATO accession.
On January 23, the Turkish parliament approved Sweden’s accession to NATO. Hungary remains the only country in the alliance that has yet to vote on the Swedish application.
Previously, it was reported that Turkey is ready to support Sweden’s NATO membership in exchange for the delivery of American fighters.
