A critical development in the issue of the upgrade of the Turkish F-16 fleet, with media reports that US President Joe Biden is urging the US Congress to approve the sale of the F-16 Block 70 to Turkey "without delay", Reuters reported a few hours ago.
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Τους Εκτέλεσαν Πισώπλατα! 150 Ρώσοι πέρασαν μέσα από σωλήνα και βρέθηκαν πίσω από την ουκρανική άμυνα στην Αβντίιβκα
F-16 for Turkey: The Deal was Closed?
More specifically, U.S. Leader Joe Biden sent a letter to the leaders of the top Capitol Hill committees yesterday, Wednesday, January 24, informing them of his intention to begin the formal notification process for the sale of Lockheed Martin F-16 aircraft to Turkey as soon as Ankara completes the process of accepting Sweden's membership in NATO.
In the letter sent to top Republican and Democratic politicians on the US Senate Foreign Relations and US House of Representatives Foreign Relations committees, Biden urged Congress to approve the sale "without delay," a US official revealed. Meanwhile, four other sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that early yesterday, Wednesday, the White House did indeed send a letter to members of Congress urging them to approve the $20 billion sale of F-16 aircraft and modernisation kits to Turkey.
The Turkish parliament ratified Sweden's membership of NATO on Tuesday 23 January, effectively giving the green light to the alliance's expansion into northern Europe after a delay of almost 20 months. The sources said Biden's letter was sent yesterday, Wednesday, and that the Biden administration has so far not notified Congress of the plan to sell the military equipment in question to Turkey.
As a reminder, the delay in approving Sweden's NATO membership is considered by many to be one of the most critical factors in delaying the approval of the sale of F-16s to Turkey. U.S. lawmakers had stated that they were waiting for Erdogan and Ankara politicians to approve Sweden's NATO membership before they approved the sale of F-16s to Turkey.
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"Θεαματική" άφιξη Λαβρόφ στη Ν. Υόρκη όσο ρωσικά θερμοβαρικά κατέκαιγαν ουκρανικά οχυρά στο Κουπιάνσκ (Βίντεο)
And so it happened. The US Department of Defense, of course, refused to answer the question about the exact timing of the official notification process for the sale of the F-16.
Finally, it should be recalled that Turkey had first requested in October 2021 US F-16 fighters worth $20 billion, along with about 80 modernization kits for its existing fighters. After nearly 2.5 years it appears that Ankara will get what it wants, essentially through blackmail.
