Biden urges Congress to allow F-16 sale to Turkey 'without delay' after NATO deal

President Joe Biden on Wednesday sent a letter to leaders of key Capitol Hill committees to endorse the sale of F-16 warplanes to Turkey, following the country’s agreement to support Sweden’s entry into NATO. In the letter to the top Republican and Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations and House of Representatives Foreign Affairs committees, Biden urged Congress to approve the sale “without delay,” Reuters quoted a US official as saying. Earlier on Wednesday, the White House sent a letter to members of Congress urging approval of the $20 billion sale of F-16 aircraft and modernisation kits to Turkey, four sources familiar with the letter told Reuters. Notably, the President had made Turkey’s consent to Sweden’s NATO membership a condition for the aircraft deal, a stance also echoed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. On Tuesday, Turkey’s parliament successfully ratified Sweden’s NATO membership bid, marking a significant breakthrough in the prolonged process of expanding the Western military alliance, which had faced a 20-month delay. The letter confirming the ratification was dispatched on Wednesday, and as of now, the Biden administration has not formally apprised Congress of the impending sale. Turkey’s prolonged delay in giving its nod to the ratification had posed a major impediment to securing congressional approval for a fighter jet deal. Legislators had underscored the importance of Turkey’s endorsement of Sweden’s NATO membership, including the crucial step of President Tayyip Erdogan’s signature, before making a decision on approving the sale. On Wednesday, the US State Department urged Ankara to conclude the formalisation of Sweden’s NATO ratification. This entails Erdogan signing the legislation, subsequently to be published in Turkey’s Official Gazette. Additionally, the instrument of accession for Sweden needs to be transmitted to Washington. The State Department refrained from providing a precise timeline for the official notification process concerning the F-16 sale. With Hungary being the sole remaining holdout to the northern expansion of the defence alliance, progress towards NATO’s enlargement continues. Turkey has been seeking to acquire 40 Lockheed Martin Corp. F-16 Block 70 aircraft and 79 upgrade kits since 2021. The purpose is to retire F-4 jets and enhance F-16s temporarily while Turkey works on developing its own warplanes. Sweden initiated its NATO accession process in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. With inputs from agencies