After Erdogan's Plea, Joe Biden 'Blesses' the Sale of F-16s and Spare Parts to Turkey

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After Erdogan's Plea, Joe Biden 'Blesses' the Sale of F-16s and Spare Parts to Turkey


Flashback to October 2021, the Turkish Government has submitted a request to the United States Government for the intention of purchasing 40 units of the latest variant of F-16 fighter jets and 80 modernization kits for the F-16 fleet currently operated by the Turkish Air Force.

Since the request was made, there has been no official response from the strongest country in NATO. Understandably, the relationship between Turkey and the US had indeed been 'hot and cold' due to the purchase of the S-400 hanud system from Russia.

And after almost five months of waiting, the White House finally got a response. Quoted from Reuters.com (6/4/2022), the Joe Biden administration believes the potential sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey will be in line with US national security interests and will also support the long-term alliance between NATO countries.

Although there has been a positive response from Biden, it has not yet become an agreement, because some members of congress do not explicitly support it.


So far, there are 50 US congressmen who have rejected Turkey's planned purchase of F-16s. They urged the Biden Government to reject Ankara's purchase, citing what they said was Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's lack of commitment to NATO and a "grave violation of human rights."

Since the request for the purchase of 40 new variants of the F-16 plus modernization kit, Washington has so far refrained from expressing any opinion on the planned purchase, saying it would need to go through a standard arms sales process.

As is known, the sale of weapons from the US to Turkey - which incidentally is a NATO ally, became a debate after Ankara acquired the S-400 missile system from Russia, triggering US sanctions and Turkey's removal from the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jet program.

For the record, Turkey and the United States have not found common language in the payment of compensation for the F-35 project. In addition to the sale of the F-16s, Ankara is demanding $1.4 billion in monetary compensation for the US refusal to cooperate in the joint development of the F-35 fighter jet.

Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stated that if the United States refuses to sell the latest generation of F-16s to Turkey, then Ankara may consider buying fighter planes from Russia. "If the United States does not want to sell (F-16) aircraft to Turkey, then we will consider other options, including buying the Sukhoi Su-35 and Su-57," Cavusoglu said.

In reality, the Air Force's fighting prowess relies heavily on the F-16 Fighting Falcon family.

Until January 2021, the Turkish Air Force operates no less than 245 units of F-16 C/D (Block30/40 and Block50). Although some F-16 parts and equipment have been manufactured by domestic industry, there are still key elements, where Turkey still needs the US.

In a phone call on March 10, 2022, Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan told US President Joe Biden that it is time to lift all "unfair" sanctions against Turkey's defense industry and that Turkey expects its request to buy the F-16s to be completed as soon as possible.

In the Russia vs Ukraine conflict, Turkey, which has maritime borders with Ukraine and Russia on the Black Sea, has good relations with both and has hosted peace talks between the two in Istanbul.

Turkey's stance is ambiguous, voicing support for Ukraine, but also against the Western sanctions imposed on Russia for the invasion.


Turkey maintains close ties with Russia in the energy, defense, trade sectors and relies heavily on tourists from Russia. On the other hand, Turkey has sold a combat drone (Bayraktar TB-2) to Ukraine, which has angered Moscow.

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