Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/ ANKARA: Turkey has appealed to the United States (US) to expedite F-16 fighter jets, the sale some US officials hope could coax Ankara to lift objections to The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) expansion but bitterly opposed by the key senator.
According to the AFP, Meeting Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, and Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkish Foreign Minister said that he intended to discuss his country’s request for modernized versions of mainstay F-16 jets.
Cavusoglu said that we said together before, this has not only for Turkey but also important for NATO and for the US as well.
“We expect the approval in line with our joint strategic interests.”
Around 40 F-16 jets part of the deal
The United States (US) finalizing a 20 billion dollars package for Turkey that is expected to include around forty new F-16 jets.
The sale could be simultaneous with a deal for top-of-the-line F-35 fighters’ jets for Greece, Turkey’s historic rival with which tensions and tussle have risen sharply over issues in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The United States (US) has been looking for ways to persuade Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkish President to lift objections to allowing Sweden and Finland into North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The two Nordic nations shed their hesitation at formally entering the Western alliance following Russia-Ukraine war.
But all NATO members must agree, and Tayyip has pushed Finland and Sweden to crack down on Kurdish militants who moved to the two countries.
