Biden urges Congress to quickly approve F-16 sales to Turkey
President Biden sent a letter to four senior members of Congress on Wednesday urging them to quickly approve a $20 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, following the vote a day earlier by the Turkish parliament to allow Sweden to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, according to three US officials.
The White House sent the letter to top Democratic and Republican lawmakers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which oversee arms transfers by the State Department to other countries. As of Wednesday evening, the four top lawmakers had not yet given their approval, and one or more of them could ask the Biden administration to provide assurances on Turkey's actions on certain foreign policy issues before agreeing with the transfer, a Congress official said.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, a member of NATO, has linked his country's approval for Sweden's entry into the security organization to the sale of F-16s, which was still pending. Both Sweden and Finland had asked to join NATO following Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and the vast majority of alliance members quickly agreed. Turkey approved Finland's bid but, along with Hungary, withheld approval from Sweden.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with Erdogan in Istanbul this month and urged him to let Turkey approve Sweden's accession. Mr. Blinken tried to assure him that the F-16 sale would happen, U.S. officials said.
The State Department informally notified the two congressional committees of the sale more than a year ago, starting the review process by lawmakers. However, congressional officials have repeatedly returned to the department with questions about how Turkey might use the jets, as well as some of Turkey's foreign policy moves that appear to run counter to U.S. interests.
One problem is the fact that the Turkish military has carried out a growing number of airstrikes on Kurdish militias in northeastern Syria who have been working with the US military in the fight against Islamic State. Turkish leaders view the Kurdish fighters as members of a terrorist group. Members of Congress and aides remain concerned about Turkey's aggression, an official said.
Congress officials also want to see assurances from Turkey on when the formal ratification of Sweden's accession from Mr. Erdogan's office will proceed. And they are asking the Foreign Ministry to provide them with a document that Turkey allegedly sent to the ministry, stating that the Turkish military plans to de-escalate tensions with the Greek military in the Aegean Sea, the official said .
All that means that Mr. Biden may not get the approval of all four lawmakers as quickly as he would like, despite the letter he sent on Wednesday, i.e. Reuters reported this earlier.
Congressional officials expect that once these lawmakers give their approval, the State Department will move quickly to formally notify Congress of the sale, meaning the arms transfer will go through.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary pledged on Wednesday to have his parliament approve Sweden's accession, but gave no timeline for when a vote could take place.
Katie Rogers And Catie Edmondson reporting contributed.