Turkiye's president, who has been delaying the final ratification of Sweden's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), repeatedly pressured the United States to keep its promise to sell F-16 fighter jets.
On the 26th (local time), according to major foreign media, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, president of Turkiye, explained the results of the meeting between Turkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
President Erdogan stated that the issue of Sweden's NATO membership was discussed during the meeting, and that the U.S. government is trying to link Turkiye's ratification of Sweden's NATO membership to the sale of F-16s.
President Erdogan said, "The Turkiye parliament will have the final decision-making authority on Sweden's NATO membership," adding, "If the United States keeps its promise, our parliament will also keep its promise."
He also mentioned that Bob Menendez, chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee who has opposed the sale of F-16s to Turkiye, was recently indicted on bribery charges. He predicted that this situation would work in Turkiye's favor.
In 2019, Turkiye introduced the Russian S-400 air defense missile system despite opposition from the U.S., a NATO ally. As a result, the U.S. government blocked the sale of F-16s to Turkiye.
When Turkiye announced in July, ahead of the NATO summit, that it would support Sweden's NATO membership, the U.S. Congress began reviewing the lifting of export restrictions on F-16s to Turkiye.
President Erdogan indicated that it would be difficult to ratify Sweden's NATO accession agreement before October and expressed his intention to observe whether the U.S. fulfills its promise until the very end.
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