Politics

Menendez on Turkish F-16s: I have no intention of agreeing

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Washington is exerting suffocating pressure on Ankara for the operation in Syria, revealed the US senator

Vertically opposed, once again, appeared to her subject sale of F-16s to TurkeyUS Senator Robert Menendez.

The chairman of the International Relations Committee of the US Senate spoke to ERT about Turkey’s moves and what is being said about a possible agreement, saying characteristically that he has no intention of agreeing, while he did not fail to criticize Ankara for the raids in Syria, which he described as “outrageous and unacceptable”.

“I have not received any notification (regarding the Turkish F-16s), which is obviously part of the process for any arms sales. The government has not sent me any notification. So I guess there is a difference between what is said publicly and what actually happens. But what I am sure of is that, whether there is a notification or not, I have no intention, under the current circumstances, to agree to F16 sales to Turkey.”

The chairman of the US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee states that he is extremely worried about the Turkish operations in Syria from which American soldiers were endangered.

“It’s outrageous, it’s completely unacceptable. We cannot put our troops at risk from anyone, much less a NATO ally. And, you know, I think the government needs to be very clear with Turkey. To explain that if even by mistake our own soldiers are hurt in any way by the Turkish operation, there will be consequences.”

Mr. Menendez also revealed that the US government is exerting suffocating pressure on Turkey in order not to proceed with the operation in Syria.

“Sometimes diplomacy is not done openly, not publicly. Sometimes it’s done in the background. I believe the Biden administration is in deep contact with Turkey, explaining the consequences of its actions and that there will indeed be consequences. And I hope Erdogan understands these appeals of the government”, the American Senator told ERT.

Mr. Menendez believes that Turkey will not be able to continue blackmailing Sweden and Finland precisely because it knows America’s point of view.

Greek-TurkishnewsRobert MenendezSkai.grTurkish F-16sWashington

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