Turkiye hopes US will not fall for lawmaker ‘game’ on F-16 sales

Ankara hopes Washington will not fall for a “game” by some US lawmakers against the potential sale of F-16 jets, Turkiye’s Defence Minister said, after the House of Representatives approved a Bill creating a new hurdle to any Turkish purchase, Reuters reports.

Turkiye has sought to buy 40 Lockheed Martin made F-16 fighter jets and modernisation kits from the United States. President Joe Biden has said he supports the sale, and his Turkish counterpart, Tayyip Erdogan, has said he believes it will go through after talks with Biden.

Last week, the House approved legislation that would bar the sale to Ankara unless the administration certifies that doing so is essential to US national security, while also including a description of concrete steps taken to ensure they are not used for repeated unauthorised over-flights of Greece.

Defence Minister, Hulusi Akar, said on Tuesday talks on the sale were ongoing and Turkiye is closely monitoring the process, adding US officials were aware of the importance of NATO member, Turkiye, as an ally in counter-terrorism and migration.

READ: US lawmakers support measure to restrict sale of F-16s to Turkiye

“While that is the situation, how can you explain this? A lawmaker, a group is coming out and stirring things up through certain manipulations and disinformation,” Akar said. “We expect the Unites States not to fall for this game”.

NATO members, Turkiye and Greece, have been at odds over a host of issues for decades, such as conflicting maritime jurisidiction claims in the Mediterranean and ethnically-split Cyprus. They have accused each other of violating international laws.

Ankara recently halted bilateral talks with Athens due to recent disputes over air space violations and the Aegean islands, and Erdogan cut dialogue with Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, for lobbying against the F-16 sale to Turkiye during a visit to Washington this year.

Akar dismissed any conditions to the possible sale of the jets.

“There shouldn’t be a conditional issue like ‘I’ll give you this, but you won’t do this’,” he said. “Our wish is for common sense to prevail …”

Many US lawmakers soured on Ankara after its acquisition of Russian S-400 defence systems, triggering US sanctions as well as Turkiye’s removal from the F-35 fighter jet program.