He “blocked” the appointment of the American president with his Turkish counterpart in Vilnius, on the sidelines of the Summit in Vilnius, after Biden’s telephone conversation with Erdogan yesterday.

As SKAI correspondent Manolis Kostidis reports from IstanbulTurkey anxiously awaited whether this appointment would take place and expressed its satisfaction that it was agreed.

According to the Turkish presidency’s statement, Erdogan told Biden: “Sweden has taken some steps in the right direction with the changes it made to anti-terror legislation, but supporters of the PKK/PYD/YPG terrorist organization continue to hold demonstrations freely glorifying terrorism, which nullifies the steps taken. It is not correct to associate Turkey’s request for F-16 with Sweden joining NATO, Thanks for supporting Turkey’s request for F-16. Turkey is sincere and takes a principled stance on EU accession, we want to revitalize the EU accession process and at the Vilnius Summit, we would like the leading countries of the European Union and the EU leadership to give a clear and strong message support for Turkey’s accession”.

Turkish media: Erdogan expects Biden to invite Menendez to White House

At the same time, the Turkish media report that Erdogan is waiting for Biden to call Bob Menendez to the White House to convince him to allow Congress to grant the F-16s to Turkey. As they say, “to ask him to end the issue of the approval of the F-16”, at a time when the US is putting pressure on Turkey to lift the veto against Sweden’s accession to NATO.

As reported by Ali Chinar, HaberTurk television network correspondent in Washington: “Although the Biden administration denies that the Swedish issue is not directly related to the F-16s and maintains that they are independent issues, however, in Congress these issues are related. In the written statement, it appears that President Erdogan expressed his annoyance over this issue. The F-16 issue will be discussed at the meeting between the two presidents. Because Turkey has long been waiting for the F-16 issue to end. Essentially, Turkey expects Biden not to blame Congress, but to put pressure on Congress and end the issue.

The meeting between the two leaders will be crucial. They will discuss and see what kind of promise Biden can make on this issue. Because the person creating the biggest problem is from his own party, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez. Biden could call him to the White House and ask him to close this issue. So far he hasn’t. However, the issue of the F-16 will be a key topic of discussion between the two leaders.”

Analysts: Turkey has doubts about the F-16 issue

Also, Turkish analysts comment that “as long as Menendez is there, he can put up obstacles.” Eileen Unver Noy, professor of international relations at Hallich University, says:

“If Turkey approves Sweden’s NATO membership, there are other congressional conditions. In the congressional report there are the issues of the Eastern Mediterranean and Syria, accusations and doubts about democracy in Turkey. Turkey’s doubt is in this. That is, despite the objections of the Congress which are not moral, if the USA will guarantee the concession of the F-16. Because there are other conditions, perhaps he will set other conditions as an excuse. So the question is how much Biden can convince Congress. Because Bob Menendez as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Menendez is known for his anti-Turkish stance. It supports Greece and the Greek Cypriots in the issues of the Eastern Mediterranean. We are talking about a senator who, after many years, paved the way for granting military equipment to Greek Cypriots”.

The Mitsotakis-Erdogan meeting also plays a crucial role for the Turkish F-16s

Regarding the meeting between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his Turkish counterpart, Tayyip Erdogan, Manolis Kostidis reports that the possibility of the meeting table being “closer” and perhaps between the two leaders and the two foreign ministers is increasing.

From there on, many issues are expected to be brought to the table, such as the continental shelf and the exploitation of natural gas in the wider region.