US Will Not Sell New F-16 Aircraft To Turkiye Until It Agrees On Sweden And Finland Joining NATO

Turkiye wants to purchase USD 20 billion in weapons from the United States, including the purchase of 40 F-16 Block 70 fighters and upgrade existing aircraft, but this whole agreement is under serious threat due to the fact that Ankara is currently blocking the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO.

This was reported by the Defense Express web portal, referring to Defense News materials.

On February 2, U.S. senators sent a letter to President Joseph Biden saying that they would stop arms sales to Turkiye - the letter says in particular that the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Ankara will be considered only when Turkiye ratifies the protocols on joining NATO to Sweden and Finland - otherwise a large-scale agreement with Ankara can be canceled.

Turkiye, in particular, is accused of violating its obligations in the framework of a tripartite agreement with Finland and Sweden, within which the latter were to take measures against the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party and potentially extradite certain persons in exchange for ratification of statements on NATO membership.

Now, apparently, the future fate of American weapons for Turkiye will depend directly on Ankara and its further actions and position on the membership of Finland and Sweden in NATO - because in the U.S. Senate it is determined to block the agreement in case something goes wrong.