Senators call on Biden to delay F-16 jet sale to Turkey until Finland and Sweden allowed into NATO

A bipartisan group of senators advised President Joe Biden to postpone the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey till Turkey consents to permit Sweden and Finland to sign up with the North Atlantic Treaty Company (NATO).

The letter comes at a time when Sweden and Finland are waiting on Turkey to authorize their admission to NATO, of which Turkey is a member. Congressional sources formerly informed CNN that the Biden administration was preparing to ask legislators to authorize the sale of F-16s to Turkey, which would be amongst the biggest arms sales in years.

The group of 27 senators composed in their letter on Thursday, nevertheless, that Congress “can rule out future assistance for [Turkey],” consisting of the sale of the F-16 jets, till Turkey “finishes ratification of the accession procedures.”.

” Failure to validate the procedures or provide a timeline for ratification threatens the Alliance’s unity at an essential minute in history, as Russia continues its unprovoked intrusion of Ukraine,” the letter states. “An efficient and equally advantageous bilateral security relationship with [Turkey] remains in the interest of the United States, and we are waiting for the federal government’s ratification of the NATO accession procedures for Sweden and Finland.”.

Finland and Sweden officially used to sign up with NATO last spring, simply months after Russia’s intrusion of Ukraine. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated at the time that he would turn down the effort, implicating the 2 nations of being “like guesthouses for horror companies.”.

Those stress have actually continued. Simply recently, Turkey required a conference in between the 3 nations to be held off after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu stated the Swedish federal government was complicit in the burning of the Quran throughout a demonstration in Stockholm. A Turkish state news firm reported that the conference was canceled due to an “unhealthy political environment.”.

On Thursday, the legislators applauded Turkey for being a “important NATO ally as Russia’s unlawful intrusion of Ukraine continues,” however stated its ongoing stopping of Sweden and Finland signing up with NATO is working versus it.

The US-Turkey relationship “has actually been watched by continued hold-ups in ratification for NATO enhancement,” the letter states, “and those hold-ups present a threat to the security of the alliance, to Europe and to the global world order that Vladimir Putin continues to threaten.”.