USA: New bloc of senators on F-16s in Turkey with their letter to Biden

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“Congress cannot consider F-16 sale until Turkey completes ratification of Sweden-Finland accession protocols to NATO” senators stress

American senators express their strong concern about the obstacles that Turkey puts in the process of joining Sweden and Finland in NATO in a letter that will be sent to President Joe Biden.

In particular, the lawmakers are asking the American president to link the issue of NATO enlargement with the request submitted by Ankara for the upgrade and purchase of new F-16 fighters. The bipartisan letter was written by Democratic Sen. Jeanne Sachin of New Hampshire and her Republican colleague, Tom Tillis of North Carolina, and is currently circulating in the Senate to gather more signatures.

The Letter from the US Senators to be sent to President Biden

“Failure to ratify the protocols or submit a timetable for ratification threatens the unity of the alliance at a critical juncture as Russia continues its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. A productive and mutually beneficial bilateral security relationship with Turkey is in the interest of the United States. However, Turkey’s failure to honor its commitments under the tripartite Memorandum of Understanding between Turkey, Finland and Sweden should be taken into account. Congress cannot consider future support for Turkey, including the sale of F-16 fighter jets, until Turkey completes ratification of accession protocols.

As of July 5, 28 of NATO’s 30 member countries have ratified the accession protocols for Sweden and Finland, including the United States. Of the two remaining members of the alliance, Hungary has pledged to ratify the protocols when its lawmakers reconvene in parliament in February 2023.

At the 2022 NATO Summit in Madrid, Turkey signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding with Sweden and Finland, outlining agreements on efforts the two countries would make to address security concerns that Turkey raised as a condition for their membership . Since then, both Sweden and Finland have worked to implement the concerns outlined in this Memorandum, including but not limited to increased efforts to combat international terrorism and the listed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist organizations in both Sweden and Finland and is a terrorist organization designated as such by the US and the European Union.

Efforts are ongoing to strengthen law enforcement capacity to support extraditions and deportations in Turkey, in accordance with national procedures and the rule of law. Sweden and Finland have also started processes to revise their regulatory framework for arms exports. Sweden recently granted one of its first export licenses from the Swedish defense industry to deliver military equipment to Turkey from 2019. Finland is also considering granting export licenses. It is clear that both Sweden and Finland are making full and good faith efforts to fulfill the conditions for NATO membership that Turkey has requested.

Despite this apparent progress, Turkey has not ratified the Accession Protocols for Sweden and Finland and has been unwilling to commit to a timetable for considering the ratification of the Protocols. Turkey has proven to be a valuable NATO ally as Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine continues. We appreciate Turkey’s commitment to implement the UN-brokered grain deal, which allowed Ukraine to export grain and avert a global food crisis. This relationship, however, has been overshadowed by continued delays in ratifying NATO enlargement, and these delays pose a risk to the security of the alliance, to Europe and to the international world order that Vladimir Putin continues to threaten. As evidenced by the ratification of Sweden’s and Finland’s accession protocols by 28 of NATO’s 30 member states, Sweden and Finland will bring new and advanced capabilities to the alliance that will better position NATO to respond to current and emerging threats.

The US and Turkey cooperate on a number of security priorities. The United States’ ongoing efforts to support these priorities, such as your administration’s support for the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, are based on a shared understanding of support for our democratic allies. Once Turkey’s NATO accession protocols are ratified, Congress may consider the sale of F-16 fighter jets. However, failure to do so would call into question this pending sale.

When Putin invaded Ukraine, he aimed to break up the transatlantic alliance. Instead, as the United States we have responded together with our allies to this unprecedented moment in history with unprecedented unity and strength. We urge you to continue to work with the US Ambassador to Turkey, the US mission to NATO, and our allies, including Sweden and Finland, to encourage Turkey to act quickly in support of transatlantic unity and to ratify the accession protocols of Sweden and Finland to NATO”.

RES-EMP

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