WASHINGTON: Turkiye on Wednesday appealed to the United States to expedite the sale of F-16 jets, a sale some US officials hope could coax Ankara to lift objections to NATO expansion but is bitterly opposed by a key senator.
Meeting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he intended to discuss his country’s request for modernized versions of the mainstay F-16 fighter jets.
“As we said together before, this is not only for Turkiye but also important for NATO and for the United States as well,” Cavusoglu said.
“So we expect the approval in line with our joint strategic interests.”
The United States is finalizing a $20 billion package for Turkiye that is expected to include around 40 new F-16 fighter jets.
The sale would be simultaneous with a deal for top-of-the-line F-35 jets for Greece, Turkiye’s historic rival with which tensions have risen sharply over a series of sea disputes.
The United States has been looking for ways to persuade Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to lift objections to allowing Sweden and Finland into NATO.
The two Nordic nations shed their earlier hesitation at formally entering the Western alliance following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
But all NATO members must agree, and Erdogan has pushed Sweden and Finland to crack down on Kurdish militants who have moved to the two countries.
President Joe Biden has indicated support for selling F-16s to Turkiye. Blinken in his meeting called Turkiye a close ally and praised its role in negotiating with Ukraine and Russia to allow grain shipments from the key global breadbasket.
But Senator Bob Menendez, a member of Biden’s Democratic Party who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has vowed to block any sale.
In a speech late last month, Menendez said that Erdogan’s remarks threatening missiles on Athens were “totally unacceptable” and condemned a ban from politics of Istanbul’s popular mayor, earlier seen as a top threat to Erdogan in May elections.
“He might be doing it out of spite. Or he might be doing it because he is a thug,” Menendez said of Erdogan.
“But one thing is clear — the United States must take the Turkish president’s actions seriously,” he said, vowing to hold up the F-16s until Erdogan “halts his campaign of aggression across the entire region.”
State Department spokesman Ned Price, asked about Menendez’s stance, acknowledged opposition from lawmakers when the administration shared its support for F-16 sales.
But Price noted that Congress also was united on wanting to see a path forward on NATO.
“There is strong support within the US Congress for Finland, Sweden, to become NATO’s newest members,” Price said.
Still, Price acknowledged concerns with Turkiye including on a potential offensive against Syrian Kurds, reconciliation with Syrian President Bashar Assad and on domestic political freedoms.
“We remain deeply concerned by the continued judicial harassment of civil society, media, political and business leaders in Turkiye,” Price said.
Turkiye in 2019 was kicked out of the F-35 program after Erdogan went ahead with a major arms purchase from Russia, the key adversary of NATO.
Turkiye asks US for F-16 jets amid NATO, Congress rows
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Turkiye asks US for F-16 jets amid NATO, Congress rows
- Mevlut Cavusoglu: ‘As we said together before, this is not only for Turkiye but also important for NATO and for the United States as well’
- Blinken called Turkiye a close ally and praised its role in negotiating with Ukraine and Russia to allow grain shipments from the key global breadbasket
Trump says ‘hopefully’ no need for military action against Iran
- US president said he is speaking with Iran and left open the possibility of avoiding a military operation
- An Iranian military spokesman warned Tehran’s response to any US action would not be limited
PARIS: US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he hoped to avoid military action against Iran, which has threatened to strike American bases and aircraft carriers in response to any attack.
Trump said he is speaking with Iran and left open the possibility of avoiding a military operation after earlier warning time was “running out” for Tehran as the United States sends a large naval fleet to the region.
When asked if he would have talks with Iran, Trump told reporters: “I have had and I am planning on it.”
“We have a group headed out to a place called Iran, and hopefully we won’t have to use it,” the US president added, while speaking to media at the premiere of a documentary about his wife Melania.
As Brussels and Washington dialed up their rhetoric and Iran issued stark threats this week, UN chief Antonio Guterres has called for nuclear negotiations to “avoid a crisis that could have devastating consequences in the region.”
An Iranian military spokesman warned Tehran’s response to any US action would not be limited — as it was in June last year when American planes and missiles briefly joined Israel’s short air war against Iran — but would be a decisive response “delivered instantly.”
Brig. Gen. Mohammad Akraminia told state television US aircraft carriers have “serious vulnerabilities” and that numerous American bases in the Gulf region are “within the range of our medium-range missiles.”
“If such a miscalculation is made by the Americans, it will certainly not unfold the way Trump imagines — carrying out a quick operation and then, two hours later, tweeting that the operation is over,” he said.
An official in the Gulf, where states host US military sites, said that fears of a US strike on Iran are “very clear.”
“It would bring the region into chaos, it would hurt the economy not just in the region but in the US and cause oil and gas prices to skyrocket,” the official added.
‘Protests crushed in blood’
Qatar’s leader Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian held a call to discuss “efforts being made to de-escalate tensions and establish stability,” the Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.
The European Union, meanwhile, piled on the pressure by designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a “terrorist organization” over a deadly crackdown on recent mass protests.
“’Terrorist’ is indeed how you call a regime that crushes its own people’s protests in blood,” said EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, welcoming the “overdue” decision.
Though largely symbolic, the EU decision has already drawn a warning from Tehran.
Iran’s military slammed “the illogical, irresponsible and spite-driven action of the European Union,” alleging the bloc was acting out of “obedience” to Tehran’s arch-foes the United States and Israel.
Iranian officials have blamed the recent protest wave on the two countries, claiming their agents spurred “riots” and a “terrorist operation” that hijacked peaceful rallies sparked over economic grievances.
Rights groups have said thousands of people were killed during the protests by security forces, including the IRGC — the ideological arm of Tehran’s military.
In Tehran on Thursday, citizens expressed grim resignation.
“I think the war is inevitable and a change must happen. It can be for worse, or better. I am not sure,” said a 29-year-old waitress, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
“I am not in favor of war. I just want something to happen that would result in something better.”
Another 29-year-old woman, an unemployed resident of an upscale neighborhood in northern Tehran, said: “I believe that life has highs and lows and we are now at the lowest point.”
Trump had threatened military action if protesters were killed in the anti-government demonstrations that erupted in late December and peaked on January 8 and 9.
But his more recent statements have turned to Iran’s nuclear program, which the West believes is aimed at making an atomic bomb.
On Wednesday, he said “time is running out” for Tehran to make a deal, warning the US naval strike group that arrived in Middle East waters on Monday was “ready, willing and able” to hit Iran.
Conflicting tolls
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it has confirmed 6,479 people were killed in the protests, as Internet restrictions imposed on January 8 continue to slow verification.
But rights groups warn the toll is likely far higher, with estimates in the tens of thousands.
Iranian authorities acknowledge that thousands were killed during the protests, giving a toll of more than 3,000 deaths, but say the majority were members of the security forces or bystanders killed by “rioters.”
Billboards and banners have gone up in the capital Tehran to bolster the authorities’ messages. One massive poster appears to show an American aircraft carrier being destroyed.
