F-16 anti-Ankara senator statement

As uncertainty continued over the ongoing sale of F-16 aircraft among the US, the proposed defense budget created quite a stir.

Bob Menendez, Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, known for his anti-Ankara stance and supported by the Greek and Greek lobby, made remarks. On his Twitter account, Menendez said: “Contrary to some claims, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is not a victory for Turkey. That is one of the tools we are going to use in the Senate arms deal. I am saying this again: “As Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I will not approve the sale of the F-16 to Turkey until Erdogan’s violations in the region end.”

In recent months, US President Joe Biden has made statements that he is ready to sell F-16s to Turkey and confirmed this when meeting with President Erdogan.

WHAT HAS CHANGED IN THE TEXT?

The conference committee, which includes senators and representatives from both houses of the US Congress, had delivered the final version of the NDAA bill, which includes the $857 billion defense budget, the previous day. While the final version of the bill was shared with the public, there were no clauses linking F-16 sales to Turkey with restrictive conditions.

With said additions accepted in the House of Representatives, it was stipulated that no new F-16 sales to Turkey and F-16 retrofit kits would be sold within the scope of the Arms Export Control Act.

The waiver of this clause was conditional on “the president being able to be exempted from this clause after concrete measures have been presented to the appropriate committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives to ensure that the sale in question affects important national security interests.” from the country”. United States and that these weapons will not repeatedly violate Greek airspace.” However, it was seen that these expressions were eliminated in the current text.