The Biden administration is preparing to seek congressional approval for a $20 billion sale of new F-16 jet fighters to Turkey, as well as a separate sale of next-generation F-35 fighter jets to Greece , which would be among the largest foreign arms sales in recent years, US officials said.
Administration officials aim to use the prospect of the sale to lure Turkey into signing Finland and Sweden’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which Ankara has blocked over objections to their links to Kurdish separatist groups. Congressional approval of the sale is subject to Turkey’s approval, government officials said. The two countries ended decades of neutrality when they decided to join NATO last year in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The sale to Turkey, which the administration has been considering for more than a year, is larger than expected. It includes 40 new aircraft and kits to overhaul 79 of Turkey’s existing F-16 fleet, according to officials familiar with the proposals.
Congress’s notification of the deal will roughly coincide with a visit by Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to Washington next week. The sale to Turkey also includes more than 900 air-to-air missiles and 800 bombs, one of the officials said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is under pressure from the US to agree to NATO expansion.
Photo: adem altan/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
The separate sale to Greece required by the Greek government in June 2022 includes at least 30 new F-35s. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is America’s most advanced jet fighter. While officials said the timing of the notifications was random for both Turkey and Greece, it could quell protests from Athens over the F-16 sale if its request is also granted. Greece and Turkey are historic regional rivals, and a sale to Turkey alone would likely draw swift condemnation from Athens.
The plane’s potential sale could have far-reaching implications for Washington’s efforts to cement ties with two NATO allies amid the Western response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
A State Department spokesman declined to comment on the principle of potential arms transfers until and unless they are officially notified to Congress. Congress has never successfully blocked a White House-requested arms sale to foreigners.
The proposed deal with Turkey comes at a time of strained US-Turkish relations, with Washington also trying to persuade President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to do more to enforce sanctions on Russia and Finland and Sweden’s entry into NATO to approve.
The proposal also sets the stage for a possible showdown with some congressional leaders who have vowed to oppose arms sales to Turkey. Senator Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has said, citing human rights concerns, that he would not approve the sale of F-16s to Turkey.
In recent months, Mr Erdogan has also threatened to launch a new military incursion against Kurdish militants in Syria. Last month a Turkish court also convicted the mayor of Istanbul, a popular opponent of Mr Erdogan, for insulting officials in a crackdown that human rights groups said was part of a crackdown on the Turkish opposition. The Turkish government says its courts are independent.
Under US arms export laws, Congress has 30 days to consider the deal. If Congress wants to block the deal, it must pass a joint disapproval resolution. Congress can also pass legislation to block or amend a sale at any time until delivery.
The Biden government intends to sell at least 30 new F-35 jet fighters to Greece.
Photo: Robert Atanasovski/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
US officials say they are encouraging Mr Erdogan to drop his opposition to Finland and Sweden joining NATO. One official called the F-16 a “carrot on a stick” to get Turkey’s approval.
Officials said it may ease some members of Congress’ opposition to the sale. State Department officials have argued for months that expansion is essential to NATO’s collective security. But officials expect that while the Greece package could sail through Congress, the F-16s could be delayed due to some members’ reluctance to encourage Ankara with the extra firepower.
Mr Erdogan initially threatened to veto the two countries’ accession over their ties to Kurdish militant groups in Iraq and Syria. Turkey has been waging a slow-burning war with Kurdish armed groups for decades in a conflict that has left tens of thousands dead.
NATO leaders say Finland and Sweden have responded to Turkey’s concerns, upholding an agreement signed last year that required both countries to consider Turkish extradition requests and lift restrictions on arms sales to Ankara.
Turkish officials say Sweden has not done enough to meet its obligations to Turkey, citing what they say the continued activities of the militant Kurdish Workers’ Party in Sweden. The Turkish government this week summoned the Swedish ambassador to a demonstration in Stockholm where protesters hung a puppet of Mr Erdogan by his feet. The Turkish president’s hard line against Sweden has broad support in Turkey, including among opposition parties, which have long opposed what they see as liberal crackdowns on Kurdish militant groups in Europe.
The timing of a vote on NATO enlargement in Turkey’s parliament will also depend on Turkey’s national elections this year, where Mr Erdogan faces a close race amid public dissatisfaction with the country’s struggling economy.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
The Biden administration remains cautiously optimistic that Turkey will eventually move on Finland and Sweden. US officials last year said there would be no return for Turkey’s agreement to NATO expansion and said the timing of the F-16 sale depended on the government’s own internal process for finalizing the deal.
The proposed sales also come amid heightened tensions between Turkey and Greece, two longtime adversaries who have traded threats in the eastern Mediterranean over the past year.
Turkey was originally a participant in the US’s state-of-the-art F-35 program but was expelled after Mr Erdogan approved the purchase of Russia’s S-400 air defense system. The US government said the Russian weapons system could potentially hack the F-35.
Biden administration officials have argued that selling F-16s to Turkey could help restore ties with the country, which maintains the second largest army in NATO.
Under Mr Erdogan, Turkey has played a major role in the Ukraine crisis, facilitating prisoner exchange negotiations and helping broker an agreement that allowed Ukraine to resume grain exports through Black Sea ports. Erdogan’s close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin has also raised concerns in Washington, which has scrutinized the inflows of Russian funds into Turkey, including oligarch fortunes.
Finland and Sweden have officially applied to join NATO, but Turkey has threatened to prevent them from joining. WSJ’s Shelby Holliday explains why Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sees enlargement as a threat to Turkey’s national security. (Video first released May 2022). Image composite: Sebastian Vega
– William Mauldin contributed to this article.
Write to Jared Malsin at [email protected] and Vivian Salama at [email protected]
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