The Democratic congressman confirmed that there is a set of communications and assurances that have been given by the State Department to the chairmen of the committees that have the jurisdiction to approve such a sale.
Congressman John Sarbanis proceeded to confirm that the State Department has given the assurances requested by Congress regarding Greek security in the Aegean and the sale of F-16s to Turkey.
It is recalled that under the agreement reached in Vilnius, which is known as the “Menendez package”, lawmakers would receive a letter guaranteeing that the State Department would take action in the event that Turkey uses the new fighters to violate its rule by another NATO ally.
Speaking about this letter to the OPEN television station, the Democratic congressman confirmed that there is a set of communications and assurances that have been given by the State Department to the chairmen of the committees that have the jurisdiction to approve such a sale.
“I think that if these assurances were not there the heads (of the committees) would not have approved the sale of the F-16s and would not have publicly shown their comfort with it,” he noted.
Regarding whether the Blinken letter really constitutes a safety net for Greece, Congressman Sarbanis estimated that if Turkey returns to its old bad self, the State Department will have strong levers of pressure throughout the development of the program of F-16.
As he explained, “obviously, if there is a challenge, if the F-16s are being used in a way that would be against the expectations of all parties, then there would be some re-evaluation in terms of delivery and timing of delivery and so on.” .
John Sarbanes said he was a little surprised by the statement of Acting Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, who speaking to CNN Turk said that the US “would be happy to bring Turkey back into the F-35 program if the S-400 issue is resolved.”
The American congressman estimated that it is too early to open such a dialogue, emphasizing “that it is premature to start such a discussion. Let’s see how things go with these new developments and then see what else could be done later.”
The representative of the Security Council, John Kirby, followed the same path a little later, who noted that for the time being there is no change in this matter.
“There is no change in our view that the F-35 program for Turkey is incompatible with the use of the S-400. So we are still continuing consultations and if Turkey can resolve our concerns on this issue, then there may be a move back to the F-35 program, but for now we are at that point.”
Source :Skai
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