In any case, he emphasized that even if Congress does block the Turkish F-16s, this fact will not be an obstacle for the sale of F-35s to Greece
On the sidelines of the Hellenic-American Institute’s announcement on the subject of the F16 sale to Turkey, the president of the Hellenic-American Institute, Nick Laryngakis, spoke to SKAI.
As he reports at the congressional level, US Senator Robert Menendez will fight hard to prevent the sale of F-16s to Turkey. In any case, if there are pressures and funds are cut, the federal government’s legislative body could be bypassed.
In any case, he emphasized that even if Congress does block the Turkish F-16s, this fact will not be an obstacle for the sale of F-35s to Greece
The interview in detail
Mr. Laringakis, the Biden administration appears to be preparing to formally ask Congress to approve the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. What do you predict will happen from the Congress side?
Mr. Menendez will put up a great fight and as long as he is in his own power, he will stop this so that the demand for aircraft requested by the Biden administration to Turkey cannot be promoted.
Right now we have the opportunity because of the negative moves Turkey is making in the region. It has possessions in Cyprus – It commits violations over Greek space every day – in 2022 – 11,000 violations over an important ally which is Greece in NATO – these are not moves by an important ally which should be Turkey within NATO.
All these armaments are not used, to put it popularly, for the enemies of NATO and the West, but for the interest of Turkey.
If Robert Menendez vetoes it, do you think the US President can override Congress?
I do not hide from you that if there are pressures from many sides and funds are cut, something like this could happen.
The climate in Congress right now is not in favor of Turkey and that helps Mr. Menenetz immensely. No President wants there to be a backlash and since the administration is ready to announce this sale to Turkey he will find it in front of him because it is not a right move by Mr. Biden at this time
How does the Greek-American lobby intend to react?
You saw the announcement we made.
We are now also preparing a letter to send to Mr. Blinken.
We will always emphasize the negative role of Turkey that does not help the stability and peace of the region and we must look at these before giving and awarding donations for something that negatively affects a country like Turkey.
To emphasize how problematic a country Turkey is
Since Congress is blocking the Turkish F-16s, will the request for Greece to acquire the F-35s move forward?
I think one will have nothing to do with the other.
Greece is currently one of the most powerful in the USA, this part is being upgraded as we saw in Alexandroupoli as I went there myself and saw how important a hub it is for the strategic part, the energy part.
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With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
