Turkey may agree to accept Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership if the US sells Turkey 40 new F-16 fighter jets and modernization packages for its existing F-16 fleet.
This has been the case since the newspaper The Wall Street Journal (you are moving to another service) said the President of the United States Joe Biden intending to make Turkey’s acceptance of Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership a condition for the fighter jet sale.
It sounds like a convenient deal of about 20 billion dollars: the United States gets to sell weapons, Turkey gets its fighter jets, and two small countries enter a military alliance.
However, the deal is disrupted by a cold-blooded senator, and not just any senator, but the chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Menendez.
He thinks that the president of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan the leadership no longer has a state committed to democracy and human rights, and the United States should not sell arms to Turkey.
The text from his mouth towards another NATO ally is exceptionally harsh.
– President Erdoğan undermines international law, tramples on human rights and democratic norms, and acts alarmingly both inside Turkey and against neighboring NATO allies.
Menendez said this last week (switching to another service)when rumors about the fighter jet deal going to Congress spread.
– I strongly oppose the sale of new F-16 fighters to Turkey proposed by the Biden administration, Menendez said.
– I will not accept this deal until Erdoğan stops his threats, improves his country’s human rights record – including by freeing journalists and political opposition figures – and starts acting like a trusted ally should.
Menendez’s furious outing did not come as a surprise. He was last in December told (you switch to another service) To the White House that he intends to stop Turkey’s fighter jet sales.
What kind of man is this Menendez? Is there another obstacle to Finland’s NATO membership?
A hard-nosed senator disrupts gun shops
Bob Menendez, 69, is a long-time Democratic politician in Washington.
Menendez has represented the state of New Jersey as a senator since 2006. Before this, he served as a congressman in the House of Representatives from 1993 to 2006.
In the Senate, Menendez has focused on foreign policy. He has led the Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee since 2013.
Currently, he serves as the chairman of the entire committee, as the majority of the Senate is held by the Democrats.
On the committee, Menendez has built a reputation as a senator who challenges both Republican and Democratic presidents.
In the United States, major arms deals go from the president to Congress for confirmation, so Menendez, as the Senate’s top foreign policy representative, has significant power.
Usually, the arms trade proceeds in such a way that the State Department officially requests congressional approval for the trade before finalizing the trade. Congress gets to deal with the matter and can vote to cancel the deals if it wants to.
The chairman of the committee also has the option to stop the proceedings in Congress and freeze the progress of the trade.
The last time this happened was in 2019, when the then president Donald Trump wanted to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia.
Reporter on Saudi Arabia’s Human Rights Violations – Especially Jamal Khashoggi because of the killing – Foreign Affairs Committee stopped (you switch to another service) Trump’s trade progress entirely.
At that time, however, Trump forced the deals to the finish line by declaring emergency mode (you switch to another service) citing the threat posed by Iran.
A state of emergency allows the president to override congressional proceedings. In this case, Congress can block arms sales only with a two-thirds majority in both chambers, as the president cannot override such a large majority with his own veto.
In connection with the deals in Saudi Arabia, such a large majority was not found, so the deals went ahead.
A long-time critic of Turkey
Menendez has long criticized Turkey and President Erdoğan, who has become more authoritarian over the years.
Already in 2019, Menendez kept the Senate on the floor long talk (you switch to another service)in which he called for the United States to “recalibrate” its relationship with Erdoğan’s Turkey.
– Turkey led by Erdoğan is not and cannot be considered an ally, Menendez said at the time.
Since then, Menendez has focused on stopping US arms exports to Turkey. Along with three Congress allies, he blocked for the years 2018–2020 (you switch to another service) during all major arms sales to Turkey.
Menendez has opposed F-16 sales since Turkey made a formal purchase request for the fighters in October 2021.
In his last December in speech (you switch to another service) Menendez’s list of reasons to reject the deals was long: the routine violation of Greek airspace by Turkish fighter jets, Erdoğan’s threat to attack Athens with missiles, Turkey’s closer relations with Russia and Iran, Turkey’s attacks on the Kurds in Syria, the occupation of Cyprus…
– To my colleagues here in the Senate: don’t be afraid to defend American values in the face of Erdoğan’s aggression. To the international community: do not hesitate to hold Turkey accountable for violating international law. To those Turks who hope for a free and democratic future: do not give up, Menendez spoke.
Turkey demands Biden to stop supporting Menendez
Turkish President Erdoğan hoped in November (you switch to another service), that the Republicans would win the Senate majority in the US midterm elections. He estimates that with the help of the Republican-led Senate, finalizing the fighter jet deal would be “significantly easier”.
However, the Democrats retained their majority in the elections, so Menendez will probably remain at the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee for at least the next two years.
It was visible this week when the Turkish foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu visited Washington to demand that the Biden administration rein in Menendez.
– This problem can be solved if [Bidenin] the administration is taking a strong stand against trade-blocking representatives in Congress — like Menendez — and other less vocal representatives, Çavuşoğlu said.
Çavuşoğlu also demanded that Biden stop “bowing” to Menendez.
Menendez strongly supports Finland and Sweden joining NATO, and he is described (you switch to another service) both countries as “ideal” NATO members.
However, Menendez has never said that he agrees to a barter, in which the F-16 sales would be accepted in exchange for Turkey’s promise to ratify Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO memberships.
On the contrary, last June Menendez warned that Turkey would also try to get something from the United States if the country interfered in the negotiations between Finland, Sweden and Turkey. That’s not what Menendez wanted to happen.
Trades can be stuck for a long time
Newspaper Politico (you’re moving to another service) According to the White House, the F-16 sales have been discussed informally with Congress as recently as last week, but no decision has been made on the timetable for sending an official purchase request.
The Wall Street Journal (you will switch to another service) according to the information, the condition required from Turkey regarding the acceptance of Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO memberships will be recorded in the notice to be sent to the congress in due course. In addition, Congress is persuaded to approve the deal by bundling the sale of at least 30 newer F-35 fighter jets to Greece in the same deal.
Menendez supports fighter jet deals to Greece, but his opposition to Turkish deals has not abated, newspaper says The New York Times (you are moving to another service).
The situation is politically embarrassing for President Biden, because Menendez is a Democrat and the chairman of the same committee where Biden himself served as the leader of the Democrats from 1997 to 2009.
Biden, who served as a senator for 36 years (1973–2009), has wanted to emphasize the collaborative decision-making between the White House and Congress, so it would be out of character for him, like Trump, to bypass congressional approval.
News agency Reuters (you will switch to another service) cited a high-level official source as saying on Thursday that Biden is unlikely to promote an F-16 fighter jet sale to Turkey as long as Menendez continues to oppose the deal.
Based on what Menendez said, the deals aren’t close yet.
You can discuss the topic until Sunday 22.1 at 23:00.
Read also:
Analysis: Turkey’s foreign minister left Washington empty-handed – Finland’s NATO membership did not move forward
US Secretary of State Blinken: It’s time for Finland and Sweden to join NATO