Regarding the next day in Turkey’s relations with the United States and Greece, in the wake of the devastating earthquake, the Greek-American member of parliament spoke to SKAI and Christodoulos Athanasatos Chris Pappas. However, he assures that the conditions set by Congress to Tayyip Erdoğan for the F-16 fighters do not change.

Christodoulos Athanasatos: Are you worried about a possible escalation between Turkey and Greece in light of the elections in Turkey regardless of the earthquake and humanitarian aid to Turkey?

Chris Pappas: Certainly the situation in Turkey after the earthquake is heartbreaking. But we have to see the difference between our support for the Turkish people and the Turkish government, which is not behaving like the rest of the NATO allies are behaving and I think we have seen aggressive action. The Turkish government has threatened war against its neighbors. This is not something we can just let go, because if they are allowed to get away with such statements, all we do is push them harder and harder.

Christodoulos Athanasatos: 27 senators have signed a letter to President Biden arguing that Congress is unlikely to approve fighter jet upgrades for Ankara if it does not advance Sweden and Finland’s efforts to join NATO. Would you also think differently if Turkey considers a different approach regarding Sweden and Finland?

Chris Pappas: Concerns about Sweden and Finland joining NATO are just one of many concerns we have with the Turkish government. It goes far beyond that, as in their territorial overflights in Greece and the way they violate the sovereignty of Greece and Cyprus. So while there is a bipartisan group of senators who have concerns about this particular issue of NATO membership, I think there are many more members of Congress who have concerns far beyond that about how the Turkish government is behaving right now. And we will continue to work on this issue. I know that Senator Menendez, who is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, reserves the right to veto F-16 sales and has indicated that he wants to try to block that sale.

Christodoulos Athanasatos: We all remember what happened with the provision in the draft 2023 Budget Act (NDAA) blocking F-16 sales to Turkey. Turkish propaganda claimed victory because the original amendment was not retained in the final version. What would you like to say in response to these claims?

Chris Pappas: Actually there was no victory for Turkey. There was a pretty strong statement on a bipartisan basis. Both the House and the Senate, that NATO members should not conduct territorial overflights over other NATO members.