Updated 12.42 | Published 12.26
US President Joe Biden appeared to propose a trade for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan: F-16 plane in exchange for Swedish NATO membership.
In any case, that’s how Erdogan describes the conversation between the two world leaders to the Turkish media.
Then things would look brighter, he notes.
Erdogan has taken the issue of Sweden’s NATO application further to the Turkish National Assembly, where it is supposed that sooner or later it will be finally ratified.
– We also discussed the issue of the F-16 between us and the USA in this context. During the meeting, he (Joe Biden) said: “If you approve this in parliament, I will send it (F-16) to Congress in the same way,” Erdogan said according to several Turkish media, including TRT.
“Will hurry up”
According to Erdogan, Biden suggested that they coordinate these two parliamentary processes so that it “can go through much more easily.”
Turkey’s president points to other obstacles in the process, including Canada’s long-standing opposition to arms exports to Turkey. There he says he is optimistic.
– Positive developments on the F-16 issue, where both the US and Canada fulfill their promises, will speed up our parliament’s positive view on the matter, Erdogan says.
– On the other hand, there are the promises that Sweden gave us in Vilnius. We expect them to be held and we follow that development closely.
Vaguely connected
Erdogan was speaking to a crowd of journalists accompanying him on a visit to Hungary, where he has met with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Turkey has long had a desire to buy fighter jets of the American model F-16, but then encountered patrols. The issue has repeatedly been reported to be connected to Sweden’s NATO process, as the Swedish application has not yet been ratified in Turkey and Hungary.
In his statements before the press conference, Recep Tayyip Erdogan hails his Hungarian colleague Viktor Orbán as an important bridge builder.