In numerous articles we have highlighted Turkey's desperate efforts to acquire 40 F-16 BLOCK-70 and 80 modernization kits for an equal number of fighters of the aging Turkish Air Force.
Recently, Turkish hopes have been raised after Ankara accepted Sweden's entry into NATO at the alliance's summit in Lithuania.
However, Erdogan has fraudulently not yet brought the above-mentioned issue to the Turkish parliament for a vote as required, as pointed out by the Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Menendez.
In fact, Erdogan has been "making waters" lately, implicitly but clearly saying that he will not pressure his party's MPs to vote for Sweden's admission to NATO in the fall that will come up for a vote because of the burning of the Koran in it.
Turkish MoD expects positive steps from the US on the F-16 acquisition issue
For its part, the Turkish media refers to the acquisition of the country's fighter jets by the US in an article entitled, "Statement on F-16s by MSB sources - We expect positive results from the US with concrete steps", noting:
" Sources in the Ministry of National Defence have made a statement regarding the latest status on the procurement and modernisation of F-16s from the US. Sources said that "As we always say, we expect positive results from the US with concrete steps."
Zeki Akturk, Press and Public Relations Advisor of the Ministry of National Defense, told the "Press Briefing" at the ministry that the meeting of the 2023 Supreme Military Council will be held today at the Presidential Complex under the chairmanship of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
15,400 DOÇKA anti-aircraft ammunition seized in terrorist group's warehouse
Wishing that the Council's decisions, which will be announced after President Erdogan's approval, will be beneficial, Aktürk said that the Turkish Armed Forces continue their struggle against all kinds of threats and dangers against national unity and solidarity, especially the PKK/KCK/PYD -YPG, DAESH and FETO.
Providing information on the latest situation in the fight against terrorism, Aktürk said: "With the strategy of destroying terrorism at its source, which we are resolutely implementing, 50 terrorists were eliminated in the last week, including in the north of Iraq and Syria.
In this context, the number of terrorists neutralized has increased to 942 since January 1 of this year, and has reached 38,285 as of July 24, 2015."
Stating that an ammunition cache belonging to the terrorist organization was seized in the area of Operation Claw-Lock this week, Aktürk said: "15,400 anti-aircraft ammunition was seized in an ammunition depot belonging to the terrorist organization, which is one of the largest seized so far."
Border security
Stating that 210 fugitives were caught trying to cross the border illegally last week, Aktürk said, "21 of these people are terrorists, 20 of them FETO members, while 3132 people were prevented from crossing the border."
Colonel Aktürk said efforts to ensure stability in Syria as soon as possible, return Syrians to a safe environment and ensure normalization continue.
World War II shells found near a beach
Colonel Aktürk, who also gave information about the ammunition found by the Coast Guard off the public beach Şile Sofular on July 29, said:
"Our Underwater Defence Commandos sent to the area received environmental security and started searches. Underwater searches were carried out in a 4,200 square metre sea area in the area and a total of 28 artillery shells, believed to be from World War II, were found. 11 of these were recovered and transferred to SAS Group Command and 17 of these were destroyed in a controlled manner yesterday."
Referring to the contribution of the Turkish Armed Forces in fighting natural disasters, Akturk said, "Four planes and 49 helicopters of our Armed Forces contributed to the efforts to extinguish the forest fires that occurred in the recent period.
823 sorties have been made by our helicopters and airplanes so far and have intervened the fires. Actions are continuing based on direct requests," he said."
Conclusion
From the above we understand that in view of the regular military crises in Turkey, the Turkish media is attempting to cultivate a climate of optimism regarding the acquisition of F-16s by the US, while at the same time praising the role of the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) in the fight against terrorism, civil security, border security and illegal immigration.
The issue of the acquisition of the US F-16 BLOCK -70 by Turkey in our estimation has" a long way to go", since the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs of the US Senate Menendez as well as other members of the Senate and members of the House of Representatives express objections and reservations about the insolvent as an ally "neighboring" country.
In either of the cases, even the worst case where the objections of the above are overridden and the US Government sells the 40 F-16 BLOCK 70 F-16s to the US, these based on existing orders from other countries and the rate of production by the manufacturer LOCKHEED MARTIN, will start coming to Turkey from 2026 onwards, while our Air Force has already received its 10th F-16 VIPER and has in its arsenal the French 4th generation RAFALE+.
