US Indicates Approval for Turkey F-16 Sale... Sweden's NATO Membership Ratification as a Trade-off

The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee expressed his intention to approve the additional sale of F-16 fighter jets to T?rkiye, which ratified Sweden's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to major foreign media on the 26th (local time), Ben Cardin, chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued a statement expressing this position. Chairman Cardin said, "I thank the Turkish parliament, which held an important vote supporting Sweden's NATO membership, and President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, who signed it." He added, "My approval of T?rkiye's request to purchase F-16s depended on T?rkiye approving Sweden's NATO membership."

He emphasized, "However, let me be clear, this decision was not made lightly," and added that he hopes a new chapter will open in U.S.-T?rkiye relations, NATO will expand further, and allies will unite to confront Russia.

The Turkish parliament approved the ratification bill for Sweden's NATO membership on the 24th of this month, and the bill was signed by President Erdo?an on the 25th and published in the official gazette.

In October 2021, T?rkiye requested the U.S. for an additional sale of F-16 fighter jets worth $20 billion (approximately 26.7 trillion won) and kits to modernize existing aircraft, but the purchase was delayed due to opposition from the U.S. Congress. The following February, after Russia's invasion triggered the Ukraine war and Nordic countries Sweden and Finland, feeling security threats, abandoned their "military neutrality" and applied to join the U.S.-led military alliance NATO, T?rkiye exercised its veto power to block this. The official reason was that Sweden and Finland supported separatist groups considered terrorist organizations by T?rkiye, but experts analyzed that T?rkiye linked NATO expansion with securing additional F-16 acquisitions and diplomatic support for its European Union (EU) membership.

After the ratification bill passed in the Turkish parliament the day before, the U.S. White House sent a letter to the U.S. Congress urging approval of the additional sale of F-16 fighter jets to T?rkiye and support for modernization of existing aircraft.