In a new letter to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and the State Department, 41 members of Congress are urging the United States not to sell F-16s to Erdogan.
They stress that despite the reaction of the US government and Congress to the imposition of sanctions on the purchase of S-400, Turkey is not backing down. They also believe that even considering Turkey’s request sends the wrong message.
They note, however, that the modernization of the F-16s requested by Turkey raises similar security issues for NATO with whether it will acquire F-35s, provided they coexist with Russian missiles.
They also warn with a new bill to block the sale, as they consider that it is against the intention of the Congress as expressed by the implementation of the legislation for the sanctions that have already been imposed.
In fact, they are asking the State Department to inform them of Turkey’s request, as well as its own position.
At the same time, after two years of controversy, mainly on the issue of immigration, the Minister of Immigration Notis Mitarakis met in Ankara with the Minister of Interior Suleiman Soilou, in order to achieve the resumption of the dialogue.
According to information, the dialogue took place in a positive atmosphere. The main goal is the reduction of refugee flows, the control of traffickers and the faithful implementation of the joint European Union-Turkey declaration, so that immigrants and refugees do not come to Greece.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias sent a strong message about Turkey’s destabilizing role in the Balkans, during a meeting with Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic.
“I reiterated our country’s steadfast opposition to centrifugal forces, which might want to redraw the map of our region. But I have to be honest here. “I have directly exposed him to the influence of external factors that, with cloaks such as development aid and so-called historical, religious and cultural traditions, promote extreme ideologies and a destabilizing agenda in the Balkans.”
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