US Congress says F-16 sale to Türkiye only if Ankara lets Finland, Sweden join NATO
A bipartisan group of senators in the US Congress \said that Washington will not support the $20 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Türkiyeuntil Ankara ratifies the NATO memberships of Sweden and Finland. Last year, after President Vladimir Putin of Russia launched 'special military operations' against Ukraine that soon shaped into a full-fledged war, Sweden and Helsinki sought to join trans-Atlantic defence pact. It soon faced resistance from Türkiye that continues till present.
Why Türkiye is opposing Finland, Sweden's NATO bid?
Ankara wants Helsinki and Stockholmto take a tougher line against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is considered a terror group by Türkiye and the European Union. Türkiye also wants thetwo countries to geopolitically assert againstanother group it blames for a 2016 coup attempt.
ALSO WATCH|Sweden awaits Turkiye's approval to join NATO
The three nations reached an agreement on a way forward in Madrid last June. Last month, however, after a Danish politician in Stockholm burned a copy of the holy book Quran,Ankara suspended the talks.
Finland, Sweden's NATO bid:What did bipartisan group of US senators say?
In a letter to President Joe Biden, 29 Democratic and Republican senators said that Finland and Swedenwere making "full and good faith efforts" to meet the conditions for NATO membership that Turkiyeasked.
Ankara, however, says that Sweden needs to do more.
"Once the NATO accession protocols are ratified by Turkiye, Congress can consider the sale of F-16 fighter jets. A failure to do so, however, would call into question this pending sale," the senators wrote.
It was the first time Congress explicitly and directly linked the F-16 sale to Turkey with the NATO accession bids of the two Nordic countries.
Turkiyehas said it could approve Finland's NATO membership application ahead of Sweden's. However, leaders of Finland and Swedenhaverejected this idea, sayingthat the security of the two Nordic countries is mutually dependent.
Of NATO's 30 members, only Turkiyeand Hungary have yet to ratify the Nordic countries' memberships.
(With inputs from agencies)
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