NJ Sen. Bob Menendez Opposes Potential $20B Sale of F-16 Fighter Jets to Turkey

NJ Sen. Bob Menendez Opposes Potential $20B Sale of F-16 Fighter Jets to Turkey 

Edited by: TJVNews.com

The Biden administration has told Congress it is preparing the potential $20 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday, according to a Reuters report. This pronouncement sparked an immediate objection from New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who has long opposed the deal.

The State Department sent the informal notice to Congress on Thursday, three sources said, informing committees overseeing arms sales in the Senate and House of Representatives of its intention to proceed with the proposed deal, as was reported by Reuters.

NATO member Turkey requested in October 2021 to buy 40 Lockheed Martin Corp F-16 fighters and nearly 80 modernization kits for its existing warplanes, Reuters reported. Technical talks between the two sides recently concluded.

The AP reported at the time that President Biden said there’s only a “fifty-fifty” chance that the U.S. Congress and Senate would approve a Turkish request to buy American-made F-16 warplanes, but pledged to do “his best” to ensure that the sale goes through, Turkey’s president said.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also told journalists in 2021 that his meeting with Biden was held “in a very positive atmosphere” despite the often testy relationship between the two NATO allies, the AP reported.

Turkey was kicked out of a U.S. program to buy F-35 combat planes while Turkish defense officials were sanctioned after the country bought Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems, the AP reported in 2021. In July 2019, the AP reported that former President Donald Trump said the U.S. would not sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey after Ankara decided to buy a missile defense system from Russia. The U.S. said the Russian missiles pose a threat to the F-35 and they strongly objected to their use within the NATO alliance.

The Trump administration had repeatedly told Turkey that it will be cut off from buying F-35s if it buys the S-400 Russian air defense system because it’s incompatible with NATO defenses and could jeopardize sensitive information about F-35 technologies, the AP reported. Trump blamed the Obama administration for never reaching a deal to sell an American missile defense system to Turkey.

The Biden administration has said it supports the sale and has been in touch for months with Congress on an informal basis to win its approval, Reuters reported. However, it has failed so far to secure a green light.

“As I have repeatedly made clear, I strongly oppose the Biden administration’s proposed sale of new F-16 aircraft to Turkey,” Senator Bob Menendez said in a statement.

While the sale is still in the informal review process, Congress is also unlikely to approve the sale as long as Turkey refuses to proceed with the ratification of Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership, Reuters reported.

The two countries ended decades of neutrality last May and applied to join NATO in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the Reuters reporter, but Turkey objected and accused the countries of harboring militants, including from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and demanded steps be taken.

At a press conference on Saturday, Ibrahim Kalin – a spokesman for Turkish President Erdogan and his chief foreign policy advisor said Washington’s demands relating to the supply of the fighter jets were “endless, “ the report indicated.

“If they keep pushing Turkey in other directions with F-16 and F-35 sanctions, and then Turkey reacts, they blame Turkey again, then that’s not a fair game,” Kalin said, according to the Reuters report. “It looks like their list of demands is an endless. There’s always something.”

The notification, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, comes as Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu prepares to visit Washington on Wednesday for talks as the two NATO allies struggle with a host of disagreements including over Syria and weapons purchases.

Following the informal review, during which committee leaders can ask questions or raise concerns about the sale, the administration can technically go ahead with a formal notification, Reuters reported. But a senior U.S. official said he was “doubtful” the administration would be in a position to proceed unless Menendez dropped his objection.

In his statement, Menendez said that Erdogan was disregarding human rights and democratic norms and engaging in “alarming and destabilizing behavior in Turkey and against neighboring NATO allies.”

He added that, “Until Erdogan ceases his threats … and begins to act like a trusted ally should, I will not approve this sale.”

Reuters reported that Menendez also said he welcomed news of the sale of new F-35 fighter aircraft for Greece, referring to Athens as a “trusted NATO ally” and saying the sale “strengthens our two nations’ abilities to defend shared principles including our collective defense, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”