Turkiye: F-16 sale to Turkiye at risk over Ankara’s Nato blocks



Congressional resistance to the Biden administration’s plan to sell high-end warplanes to Turkiye is hardening, as lawmakers seek to place pressure on Ankara to drop its opposition to Sweden’s accession to Nato. Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican and the minority leader, on Thursday added his voice to a growing chorus of influential members of Congress – whose approval is needed for such a sale – declaring their opposition to sending Turkey F-16s, calling the idea anathema “until the admission of Sweden”.
McConnell’s resistance strengthens a blockade being spearheaded by Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat and the head of the foreign relations committee, who has promised to object to the sale unless Turkiye becomes “less belligerent” toward Nato allies. It could also complicate talks over Sweden’s accession to the alliance at the Nato summit next week, where some officials had hoped to seal a deal on F-16s with President Erdogan as an incentive to get him to drop his opposition to Stockholm’s bid.





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