US Senator in SKAI: Turkey’s behavior in the Aegean is unacceptable – “Slap” for the F-16 |

The Democratic Senator Leonidas Raptakis, one of the pioneers of the Congress initiative to freeze the sale of new F-16s in Turkey, speaks exclusively to and the Stavros Ioannidis, for urging Erdogan to Biden in order to influence senators, Washington’s stern messages about human rights and Turkish provocation.

The interview in detail:

Stavros Ioannidis: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he expects President Biden to “take care” the issue of F-16s and as Erdogan said, and I quote his words, President Biden has a special weight, both in the Senate and in the House of Representatives, obviously meaning that he can influence the two Houses. What is your comment?

Leonidas Raptakis: Congress currently has a history of denials in Turkey because of its conduct on any weapons system. You saw it with the “freezing” and expulsion of Turkey, from the F-35 program and I believe that at the level of Congress, at the level of elected legislators, as you saw in the previous weeks, the unity in blocking the F-16s is huge. And I very much doubt whether a significant number of votes will be collected if it ever comes to Congress for approval. So there is a long way to go, but for my part, as a member of the Greek-American elected legislature, we are elected to 20 states, these states have 40 members in the Senate, that is, about 180 members in Congress. So, in my opinion, is a losing battle, until Turkey behaves properly again. Its behavior in the Mediterranean and the Aegean is unacceptable. Overflights, the issue of immigration, we again had a ship, with four hundred refugees, which came from Turkey. Did anyone know that this ship comes from Turkey? It seems that it is very difficult to enter Turkey, but easy to leave. The threats in Cyprus, especially in the EEZ, the Turkish-Libyan “memorandum” and so on. Until the Turkish government stops behaving like Mr. Erdogan himself, nothing will change here in the US and if he wants to threaten to buy the Russian Sukhoi 57 or other fighter, then Congress will deny him, any spare, any upgrade system for the F-16 and so the aircraft that the Turkish Air Force has, will end up obsolete.

Stavros Ioannidis: Even if Turkey backs down on the S-400 issue, will you insist on the “freezing” of F-16s and F-35s?

Leonidas Raptakis: That’s a good question. My opinion again, is that we have to start from the beginning. If Turkey decides to take back the S-400s and return them to Russia, not keep them in storageIn Turkey, this is not acceptable to us, but I would say that again, we have to start from the beginning.

Stavros Ioannidis: Turkey violates the Greek Airspace, the Greek Continental Shelf and the Maritime Zones of Greece and Cyprus, almost daily. However, the Turkish Ministry of Defense tried to reverse the reality, accusing Greece of aggressive behavior and even threatened with “answers” on the ground. What do you have to say about that?

Leonidas Raptakis: Historically, for the last 10 years or even 15 or 20 years, Turkey has been violating Greek airspace. I have not seen Greek fighters flying in Turkish airspace. I have not seen naval units in Greece enter Turkish territorial waters. The opposite always happens. Turkey is aggressive around Kastelorizo, in the Aegean, Rhodes, Symi, Leros and it goes without saying, even in Cyprus.

Stavros Ioannidis: President Biden also raised the issue of human rights, saying “these are us and despite the friction it may cause, we will continue to raise this issue publicly.” Do you think that Erdogan will ignore this resounding message again?

Leonidas Raptakis: Erdogan systematically avoids it and has a short memory of human rights and religious freedoms. He has his own manual, he has to answer himself, to look in the mirror and say “why am I doing this”; Again, this behavior is unacceptable and even at the Biden-Erdogan meeting, he did not accept that the Eastern Mediterranean was discussed. So, on this side of the Atlantic, I do not think he has many friends, in the Senate or the Congress and the Greeks of the Congress, the six members and the 33 members of the legislators, work very hard for the human rights, the religious freedoms, the protection of the sovereign integrity of Greece and Cyprus and build better relations with the agreements, for the Eastern Mediterranean, the Defense Cooperation between Greece and the USA and these show the bright future of the two states, including Cyprus.