USA approved the sale of F-16s to Turkey

The US government approved the sale of F-16 jets to Turkey on Friday. This decision, indicating an agreement worth 23 billion dollars, came after Turkey approved Sweden's NATO membership.

After months of negotiations, in accordance with the law, the US State Department informed Congress about the agreement.

In the statement of the US State Department, it was stated that Turkey will purchase 40 new F-16s and the 79 it currently has will be renewed.

A US official speaking to AFP said that the sale of the jets was not approved before the certification documents regarding Turkey's official approval of Sweden's NATO membership reached Washington.

All documents regarding the ratification will be collected in Washington, where NATO leader Jens Stoltenberg will visit next week.


The Turkish Grand National Assembly approved Sweden's NATO membership on Tuesday last week. Then, the day before, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signed his approval for membership.

Erdoğan has long opposed Sweden becoming a member of NATO on the grounds that it "supports terrorist organizations".

In September, Erdoğan reacted to the issue of Sweden's NATO membership being brought to the agenda regarding the US F-16 sale to Turkey.

Erdoğan said, "Unfortunately, friends take the job on the F-16 issue and take it away, saying 'Sweden is also Sweden'" and said that this approach upset them.

Turkey's human rights record and the tension with NATO member Greece were cited as the reason for the resistance to the sale of F-16s by the US Congress.

Ben Cardin, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that he would approve the sale of F-16s to Turkey, but that he "did not make this decision lightly."

Turkey expressed its first request for F-16 warplanes in October 2021, and the approval came after 20 months.

US President Joe Biden wrote a letter to the committee leaders in Congress to approve it without delay.

The foreign relations committees of the Senate and House of Representatives review every major arms sale and debate whether to approve it.

Following approval by the US State Department, Congress has 15 days to object.

Although some committee members had criticism about the sale, US officials do not expect Congress to block the sale, according to Reuters.

In another agreement, it was decided to sell 40 F-35s worth 8.6 billion dollars to Greece.

On July 17, 2019, the USA removed Turkey from the production process of the F-35 new generation warplanes, of which it was a project partner.

The reason for this was Turkey's purchase of the S-400 air defense system from Russia.

In order for Sweden to become a member of NATO, Hungary must also approve it.