Conflicting Statements About US F-16 Sale

New statements keep coming about the sale of F-16s in the US, which is closely following the second round of the elections in Turkey.

US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said his country is open to the idea of ​​selling F-16 fighter jets to Ankara, even if Erdogan wins the second round of the presidential election. Sunday, the Politico newspaper reported.

This statement by Republican McCaul, who had previously made statements against the sale of fighter jets to Turkey, to the NatSec Daily newspaper became the US agenda. McCaul’s change of direction was interpreted as overcoming another obstacle to the sale of F-16 to Turkey.

The White House had previously given the green light for the sale, but the four chairs of the House and Senate Foreign Relations Committees must approve the sale.
“We have received assurances that Sweden’s NATO membership will be recognized after the election, no matter who wins the election,” McCaul said in a statement. McCaul said committee leaders in Congress still oppose the sale, but he believes the F-16 shipment will be approved after Turkey approves Sweden’s NATO membership.

DEMOCRATIC LEADERS ADVANCE DIFFERENT CONDITIONS

On the other hand, Gregory Meeks, the Democratic leader of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, made different statements from McCaul and argued that “Ankara should end its aggression towards Athens after the elections for the sale of F- 16”.

Meeks said: “I currently do not support the sale of F-16s to Turkey. First, I wait for the elections to be over, then I need to see Turkey take a step. If no action is taken, I’m against it. The blockade of Sweden is one of the actions that I do not want to see, there are other issues besides this”.

Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, an anti-Turkey Democratic party, had previously stated that Erdogan needed to make sweeping foreign policy changes to allow the sale of the F-16.