According to the US State Department, Turkey will be sold 40 new F-16 fighter jets, as well as upgrades to the 79 fighters that the country already has.
The US has approved the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. This was reported by the US State Department.
Earlier this week, Turkey gave its long-pending approval to Sweden’s NATO membership. Ratification was a condition for Turkey’s fighter jet deals with the US. After Turkey, Sweden’s NATO membership has yet to be ratified by Hungary.
According to the US State Department, Turkey will be sold 40 new F-16 fighter jets, as well as upgrades to the 79 fighters that the country already has. The deal is worth 23 billion dollars, or about 21 billion euros.
In addition, according to the ministry, 40 F-35 fighter jets are being sold to Greece, the agreed purchase price of which is 8.6 billion dollars, or about 7.9 billion euros.
According to a US official source, the United States had not given the green light to the fighter jet sales until Turkey’s ratification documents had arrived in Washington.
The deals had stalled in Congress
Turkey’s parliament approved Sweden’s NATO membership on Tuesday after more than a year of delays. Turkey’s ratification officially came into force on Thursday, when the relevant law was published in Turkey’s official gazette.
President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan had initially opposed Sweden’s NATO efforts because Turkey considered the Swedish regime to accept Kurdish groups that Turkey had defined as terrorist organizations.
Sweden responded to the accusations by tightening its anti-terrorism legislation and taking other security-related steps that Erdogan had called for.
However, ratification did not come off even after this, instead the Turkish president turned his eyes to the fighter jet deals, which had faced opposition in the US Congress. The background of Jumi was Turkey’s confrontation with NATO ally Greece and human rights issues, which were considered to have weakened in Turkey.
Greece was softened by a fighter
Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Democratic Senator Ben Cardin said on Friday that he would approve the sale of fighter jets to Turkey. However, he emphasized that this decision was not easy for him.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had told Turkey during his two previous visits that ratifying Sweden’s NATO membership would help end opposition in Congress.
Greece, on the other hand, has strongly opposed US fighter jet deals with Turkey, because Greece and Turkey have unresolved territorial disputes in the energy-rich Mediterranean region.
According to a US source, the success of the US trade agreement with Turkey firstly depended on Greece not blocking trade. For this reason, according to the source, Greece was promised access to additional fighter jets.