Turkey will soon be able to purchase 40 brand new F-16 fighter jets from the United States, a deal that has been in the works for a long time and cost $23 billion. This green light follows Ankara’s ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership. Also included in the purchase are modification kits for 79 Turkish F-16 fighters that are already in service. At the same time, as the sale of forty F-35 aircraft to Greece, valued at $8.6 billion, was approved, the US State Department notified Congress of the permission.
It took almost a year and poor alliance relations for Turkey to confirm Sweden’s NATO entry, which was the main reason the acquisition of the F-16 fighter was delayed. In 2021, Turkey first asked for the fighter jets, but Sweden was hesitant to grant their request because of concerns that it supported Kurdish rebels. Nevertheless, President Tayyip Erdogan gave the ultimate approval after Turkish lawmakers accepted Sweden’s NATO proposal.
F-16 Fighter Approval: Strategic Shifts Amid Ukraine Crisis and Turkey’s NATO Role
The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022 increased the urgency of sanctioning the F-16 fighter deliveries and highlighted Turkey’s strategic importance as a NATO bulwark in the Black Sea region. Immediate approval was sought by US President Joe Biden in response to Turkey’s moves.
Democratic Senator Ben Cardin, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stressed that the support was conditional. According to Cardin, Turkey has to do a better job of protecting human rights and should do more to make Russia pay for invading Ukraine. He understood the seriousness of the choice and made it clear that his acceptance was conditional on Turkey endorsing Sweden’s NATO membership.
Recent developments show that there has been progress, but Hungary is still the only NATO member that has yet to approve Sweden’s entryway. Importantly, the United States of America sanctioned last year the transfer of American-made F-16 fighter jets from the Netherlands and Denmark to Ukraine, according to the presumption that Ukrainian pilots complete full training on the aircraft.
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