The amendment is signed by 10 more MPs.
A few days ago, Tayyip Erdogan may have “exchanged” the lifting of the veto on Sweden and Finland joining NATO with Joe Biden’s “yes” to the upgrade and sale of F-16 fighters to Turkey, however, it seems that Congress is preparing to put the brakes on any agreement.
As it became known, MP Chris Pappas led an amendment to not give the F-16s to Turkey, nor of course to upgrade the existing ones to the Viper class.
The amendment that was submitted is still signed by 10 MPs. As pointed out, the Turks violate the national airspace of another country and make overflights over Greek islands in the Aegean and therefore, American fighters cannot be given to be used by the Turkish regime to threaten neighboring countries.
Clearly, this is a move by the Greek lobby in the US to prevent the sale of fighters to Turkey and the upgrade of its F-16s to the higher category.
The matter is now referred to be discussed in November, a month in which we point out that the change in the composition of the Congress is also being considered. This is apparently what Tayyip Erdoğan can only hope for, in a, perhaps, non-re-election of Robert Menendez to the presidency of the Congress.
US House members of the Hellenic Affairs Committee, Tina Titus, Chris Pappas, Charlie Crist, Carolyn Maloney, Frank Pallone, and John Sarbanes, issued the following statement referring to the recent statement by the Joe Biden administration regarding the sale of F-16 fighter jets in Turkey:
“On June 30, President Biden confirmed his intentions to proceed with the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. In his remarks, he noted that before proceeding with any arms sales and transfers, Congress would have to approve the request.
While Turkey’s backtracking on its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO is a welcome development, there are still too many outstanding issues not to proceed with the sale of F-16s to the Erdogan government. Over the past decade, Turkey has not been a productive NATO member or a reliable US ally.
Turkey, specifically its Defense Industry Directorate, remains under sanctions through the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) as a result of its purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system. The Biden administration has not provided answers on how Turkey would qualify to be exempt from these sanctions and how the US government would mitigate the risks of co-locating F-16s with a Russian weapons system. After all, this is why Turkey withdrew from the F-35 program.
“Since the beginning of 2022, Turkey has violated the airspace of Greece, a NATO ally, more than 2,377 times, including 120 overflights over Greek territory. Turkey’s competitive actions in the Aegean, as well as its hostile attitude towards the Greek government, make it clear that the Turks do not intend to suspend these aggressive and destabilizing actions anytime soon.
If the United States were to proceed with the sale of the F-16s, American-made warplanes would undoubtedly be used to violate Greek airspace. That would violate the Arms Export Control Act, which only allows the transfer of equipment for legitimate self-defense operations.
In the past seven months, none of Turkey’s actions in the Aegean Sea related to Greece could be described as defensive, but rather simply intimidation. The US administration has not provided information on how it is working to stop Turkey from these hostile actions towards a US ally.
“Finally, in addition to Turkey’s aggression in the Eastern Mediterranean, President Erdogan has announced that he is on the verge of a new invasion of Syria with the specific intention of targeting Kurdish forces in the North. Many of these forces have fought in the past and assisted US operations in the region.
If Turkey were to acquire F-16 fighter systems, they would clearly be used in this new offensive against our Syrian Kurdish allies. The administration has not provided information on how it will ensure that these individuals, on whom we have relied in the past and may need to in the future, are protected from US-developed weapons.
“Until the administration can provide appropriate answers as to how it intends to mitigate the aforementioned concerns, we will continue to oppose this arms transfer and do everything we can to ensure that these F-16s they will not be handed over to the Turkish government.”
We remind you that with a message on Twitter, pro-Turkish American Senator Lindsey Graham announced, after his visit to Turkey at the weekend, that he will do everything possible to “close” the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Ankara.
However, he and he probably know that Congress does not “break” on such issues, especially when the lead senator, Robert Menendez, is convinced that Erdogan is acting destabilizingly for the Eastern Mediterranean region, while at the same time continuing to serve interests of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
