Turkey’s bid to buy US F-16 fighter jets has received the public support of President Joe Biden’s administration after Ankara dropped its objections to Finland and Sweden’s bids to join Nato.
Celeste Wallander, assistant secretary of defence for international security affairs, said the US “fully supports” Turkey’s plans to modernise its F-16 fleet in comments that represented Washington’s strongest public backing for the request since it was lodged by Ankara last October.
With relations between the two countries fraught, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had accused the US of “stalling tactics” over the deal.
However, any F-16 sale would have to be approved by Congress at a time when there is deep disillusionment on Capitol Hill with Erdoğan’s increasingly authoritarian leadership.
♦ Reuters