US President Joe Biden’s administration links the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey with Ankara’s endorsement of Sweden’s bid to join NATO and this “bothers” his country, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said today.

Speaking at a press conference after the G20 summit in India’s capital, New DelhiErdogan said he had a meeting with Biden on the sidelines of the summit and they discussed the issue of transferring fighters to Turkey.

As Erdogan said, Biden linked the sale of the F-16s to Turkey’s ratification of the Swedish request.

“This approach really bothers us,” he commented.

Turkey, which has been the main obstacle to Sweden’s path to NATO, requested in October 2021 to buy Lockheed Martin Corp’s F-16s worth $20 billion and nearly 80 modernization kits for its existing warplanes.

After months of objections, Erdogan agreed at a NATO summit in July to forward the Swedish request to the Turkish parliament for ratification.

A day later, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington would proceed in the transfer of F-16s to Turkeya in consultation with Congress.

However, the timetable for both the transfer of the F-16s and the Turkish parliament’s approval of the Swedish request remains unclear.

“If you say that Congress will decide (on F-16 sales to Turkey), then we have a Congress in Turkey as well – it’s the Turkish parliament,” Erdogan told reporters. “It is not possible for me to say yes (to the Swedish request) on my own, unless such a decision is approved by (our) parliament.”

Ankara accuses Sweden of supporting militants hostile to the Turkish state, mainly members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.

Erdogan also said that Sweden must “keep its promises” and to take more measures – which would include extraditing alleged PKK fighters and preventing pro-PKK rallies in Sweden – before Turkey approves its NATO candidacy.

To address Turkish concerns, Stockholm passed legislation in June that prohibits being a member of a terrorist group or providing logistical and financial assistance to proscribed groups.

Stockholm recently expressed hope that Turkish lawmakers will ratify its NATO bid when they reconvene in October, as agreed at the Alliance’s summit in July.

Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO last year after Russia invaded Ukraine. While Finland’s membership was sealed in April, Sweden’s request remains pending due to objections from Turkey and Hungary.

The Turkish foreign minister said that Ankara and Budapest are working closely on the issue.