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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expects Washington to “simultaneously” approve the sale of F-16 jets to Ankara in exchange for ratifying Sweden’s stalled bid to join the Nato alliance.
Erdoğan said he had done his “duty” by referring Sweden’s Nato accession decision to the Turkish parliament in October, but now he expects US Congress to concurrently approve Turkey’s request to buy billions of dollars worth of F-16 fighter jets and modernisation kits.
“As the president, I referred [Sweden’s Nato bid] to the parliament and you thanked me,” Erdoğan said he told his western counterparts, according to comments reported by Turkish media on Wednesday. “I have done my duty, but I expect something from you, too . . . You should simultaneously pass this issue through your Congress.”
The remarks highlight the fraught tit-for-tat that has prolonged Sweden’s request to join the western alliance. Turkey, along with Hungary, is the only Nato member that has not yet moved to approve Stockholm’s accession.
The Biden administration has been supportive of Turkey’s request to buy F-16s to bolster its ageing fleet, but the Senate foreign relations committee has been reluctant to approve the purchases. Ben Cardin, chair of the powerful panel, said in September that Turkey’s approval of Sweden’s Nato bid was just one of several challenges in approving the purchase of the fighter jets.
Turkey’s foreign affairs committee, which must approve Sweden’s Nato accession before it is voted on by parliament, debated the measure during a widely followed meeting in November, but said it needed to undertake further analysis before it could take a decision.
The committee, which like parliament is controlled by Erdoğan’s political coalition, has yet to say when it will next consider the issue. Sweden’s foreign minister said last week that he was told by his Turkish counterpart that the issue would be settled “within weeks”.
However, Turkish foreign affairs committee member Bilal Bilici, who is a member of a party that is not part of Erdoğan’s coalition, cautioned that “there is a deep mistrust between [the US and Turkey] and under the current circumstances, it seems difficult for the impasse to be overcome before the local elections in March 2024”.
Tensions between Ankara and Washington have increased since Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7. The US has strongly backed Israel’s right to self-defence, while Erdoğan has accused Israel of committing “war crimes” in Gaza, hit out at Washington’s support for the Jewish state and called Hamas a “liberation” movement.
US Treasury under-secretary Brian Nelson, who met Turkish counterparts in Turkey last week, warned that Washington was “profoundly concerned” about Turkey’s role in facilitating Hamas’s access to international finance. Washington is also frustrated with the rise in re-exports through Turkey of goods used in Russia’s war machine.
Approval of Sweden’s Nato request, which the Scandinavian country made following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, is a priority for Washington. Neighbouring Finland joined the alliance in April 2023.
Additional reporting by Funja Güler in Ankara
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