Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday in a meeting aimed at resolving outstanding disputes such as the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Ankara, as well as Turkey’s current opposition to Sweden and Finland’s accession to NATO.
In a press conference following the meeting, Çavuşoğlu emphasized that the F-16 sale was independent of the NATO accession issue and that resistance in Congress could be overcome by the Biden administration: “If this administration is decisive, it will sell Turkey F-16s, and overcome the hurdle from Menendez,” referring to Democratic Senator Bob Menendez who has been outspoken in his resistance to the deal and in his criticisms of Turkey. Regarding Sweden and Finland’s NATO bids which remain unratified by Ankara, the Foreign Minister said “Sweden is still at the beginning of this process and we are expecting concrete steps to be taken [in order for NATO membership]…We would like to emphasize that there is no connection between Turkey’s F-16 purchase and Sweden and Finland’s NATO bids. The US Congress mustn’t treat these two separate issues as if they are somehow related.” Ankara has thus far refused to ratify the NATO bids from the two Nordic nations, alleging that both countries host significant numbers of militants from groups such as the PKK and YPG, both of which Ankara classifies as terrorist organizations. Extradition of a large number of these alleged militants by Stockholm and Helsinki has been made a precondition by Turkey for the accession process to continue. Both countries had applied for NATO membership last spring following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The sale of the jets to Turkey, which would require congressional approval, faces stiff resistance from some politicians in Washington, namely from President Joe Biden’s own caucus. While the issue of Sweden and Finland’s NATO accession remains unresolved, other points of disagreement between Ankara and Washington present hurdles to a potential deal. A recent heightening of tensions between Turkey and Greece, also a member of NATO, have led some in the halls of Congress to fear that the jets could be used against Athens should the tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean come to blows. Additionally, recent normalization of relations between Ankara and Damascus has been poorly received by some in Washington. The development marks a major change as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had previously been among the most prominent voices calling for President Bashar Al Assad’s ousting during the earlier years of the Syrian Civil War. Some American Congressional members have also been critical of Turkey’s perceived closeness to Russia through the conflict in Ukraine, finding such behavior unbecoming of a fellow NATO ally.
But criticisms of the potential F-16 deal went even further by some members of the Democratic caucus. Senator Menendez of New York, head of the Foreign Relations Committee, extended his criticisms of Ankara to ongoing human rights violations occurring in Turkey, saying “I will not approve of this sale until Erdogan ends his threats, restores his country’s human rights record, including freeing journalists and political opposition, and begins to act as a trusted ally should.” In a December speech opposing the F-16 sale, Menendez criticised Turkey’s involvement in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in which Turkey fought on the Azerbaijani side and allegedly targeted Armenian civilians.
Sweden’s NATO bid, meanwhile, seems more distant than ever after the events of the past week fueled discord between Stockholm and Ankara. At a demonstration in the Swedish capital on January 12, members of a PKK-affiliated group hosted a demonstration in which an effigy of President Erdoğan was hung by its feet from a lamp post. While a criminal complaint was filed in Ankara following the incident, Sweden refused to take legal action, saying such demonstrations are permitted by Swedish law.
Turkey’s attempts to acquire the F-16 fighter jets have long been dogged with issues, predating even the NATO accession dispute over the past year. An original $1.5 billion investor in the fighter jet program, Ankara was removed from the program in July 2019 due to its 2017 purchase of the Russian S-400 defense system, a move the United States argued compromised NATO security. President Biden has remained open to providing Ankara with new aircraft in order to renew its aging air force fleet, although the notion remains unpopular in the halls of Congress.
Following the meeting with Blinken, Çavuşoğlu articulated that he expects a timely resolution of the F-16 issue, saying “We have once again brought forward our request for the F-16s. Our request serves not only Turkey but also the strategic interests of NATO. We plan to continue our strategic dialogue as alliance partners. We are expecting an acceptance of our F-16 request in line with our mutual strategic interests. Our expectations in our mutual fight against terrorism will only increase.”
Blinken said that despite their differences, the two NATO members will continue to work to find common ground as allies. The Secretary of State reiterated his appreciation for Ankara’s mediation of grain shipments during the Ukraine conflict.
