US to host Turkish FM to discuss F-16 deal and Sweden’s NATO bid
Ankara-Washington ties have improved during the Ukraine conflict, but some US lawmakers continue to fuel tensions.
Senior-level talks between Turkey and the United States will begin on January 18, with all eyes on whether the top diplomatic contact would yield positive results over the potential sale of F-16 fighter jets and Sweden’s bid to join NATO.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will host Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Washington.
The two foreign ministers have met before on the sidelines of NATO summits and United Nations meetings, but it took the Biden administration nearly two years to extend an official invitation to Cavusoglu, a delay that many analysts say reflects a strained relationship.
For Ankara, the US and its allies have turned a blind eye to Turkey’s security problems and instead played a role in strengthening armed groups such as the YPG, which is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK, a terrorist group in the eyes of the US, the EU, NATO and Turkey.
Russia’s offensive in Ukraine, Syria policy, energy cooperation and regional security issues will also be on the agenda, US and Turkish officials said.
Although the US has praised Türkiye for playing the role of a credible mediator between Ukraine and Russia and making major breakthroughs such as the crucial grain deal, Washington has expressed dissatisfaction with the nature of relations between Ankara and Moscow.
Ties between the two NATO allies hit a low point, notably when Türkiye acquired Russian missile defense systems in 2019. While Ankara insisted it was a much-needed acquisition in light of the looming border threat emanating from northern Syria, where the US has armed the YPG terrorist group to the teeth the US still went ahead and removed Türkiye from the next generation F-35 fighter jet.
Turkey now hopes to buy F-16 jets from the United States, a sale that some top members of Congress oppose despite support from the Biden administration.
READ MORE: Final US defense bill removes curbs on F-16 sales to Turkey
Objection by Legislators
Some influential US lawmakers continue to take a hawkish stance against Turkey, regardless of its security concerns. These lawmakers, who are proving to be a major obstacle in the potential Ankara-Washington F-16 deal, criticize past and upcoming Turkish cross-border operations against the PKK/YPG presence in northern Syria.
The PKK terrorist group has been fighting the Turkish state since 1984, leaving over 40,000 dead, including women and children.
Last summer, the UN’s annual Children and Armed Conflict report came out revealed that the terrorist group has recruited children despite rights organizations urging them to refrain from minor recruitments.
Ankara’s refusal to ratify NATO membership of Sweden and Finland has become another point of contention that some US lawmakers are using to stop the F-16 deal from happening.
The two Nordic states applied for NATO membership last year after Russia’s offensive in Ukraine, but their bid needs approval from all 30 NATO member states. Turkey and Hungary have not yet approved the applications.
Türkiye objected, accusing the countries of harboring, even supporting, the terrorist groups. It said Sweden in particular must first take a clearer stance against these groups, mainly the PKK and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), which are behind the defeated 2016 coup in Turkey.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that the two countries had to deport or extradite up to 130 “terrorists” to Turkey before parliament would approve their request to join NATO.
Blind alley?
Last week, the US State Department informally notified the committees that oversee arms sales in the US Senate and House of Representatives of its intention to proceed with the $20 billion sale of F-16s to Turkey.
Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, whose leaders scrutinize major foreign military sales, leads the group of critics.
Menendez is currently facing a federal investigation over a range of allegations, including corruption, bribery and dishonesty. It is the second time Menendez has been investigated for corruption.
At a press conference on Saturday, Ibrahim Kalin, a spokesman for the Turkish president, said that Washington’s demands for the delivery of the fighter jets were “endless”.
He added that he hoped the F-16 deal would not become “hostage” to Sweden’s and Finland’s NATO membership.
“If the US tells us that ‘you should ratify Sweden and Finland’s NATO accession to get F-16 jets from the US, this would lead us to a dead end,’ says the deputy head of the Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs committee and the ruling AK Party . This is what member Berat Conkar tells Reuters.
READ MORE: Türkiye wants to see “concrete steps” from the US on sales of F-16: Akar
Source: TRTWorld and agencies