ISTANBUL: Turkiye and the United States have signed a contract for the sale of F-16 warplanes after Washington greenlighted the $23 billion deal following months of negotiations, Turkish defense ministry sources said Thursday.
“The contract was signed and delegations from both sides are negotiating the details,” the ministry sources said.
Under the deal, Turkiye will get 40 new F-16s and upgrades to 79 of the jets in its existing fleet.
The State Department last week hailed “a major step forward” in Turkiye’s purchase of new F-16 fighter jets calling them “the most advanced F-16 ever made available only to closest Allies and partners.”
“Just the latest example of US enduring commitment to security partnership with Turkiye,” it said in a social media post.
As required by law, the State Department notified Congress of the agreement in January, as well as a separate $8.6 billion sale of 40 F-35s to Greece.
The United States did not green light the transaction until Turkiye’s instruments of ratification of Sweden’s membership had arrived in Washington.
Turkiye’s parliament ratified Sweden’s NATO membership in January after more than a year of delays that upset Western to unite in the face of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Erdogan is due to join NATO leaders’ summit in Washington next month.
He had been set for talks with US counterpart Joe Biden last month but what would have been their first White House meeting was postponed over scheduling problems.
Turkiye signs deal with US to buy F-16 warplanes
https://arab.news/9dn5c
Turkiye signs deal with US to buy F-16 warplanes
- Under the deal, Turkiye will get 40 new F-16s and upgrades to 79 of the jets in its existing fleet
Israeli settlers install mobile homes on Palestinian lands near Ramallah
- Israeli forces have carried out 1,523 violations this year, while settlers committed 621 attacks against Palestinians, a settlement watchdog said
- Some of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank since 1967 started as mobile homes that later expanded into permanent structures
LONDON: Israeli settlers set up mobile homes east of the Ramallah and Al-Bireh district in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, potentially marking the initiation of a new illegal outpost in the area.
Residents told the Wafa news agency that the makeshift settler units were installed between the towns of Burqa and Deir Dibwan to expand the Ramat Migron settlement, which is built on Palestinian-owned land.
Some of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank since 1967 started as mobile homes that later expanded into permanent structures. Many outposts begin without official approval but were later legalized by Israeli authorities, the Wafa added.
Israeli forces have carried out 1,523 violations this year, while settlers committed 621 attacks against Palestinians, according to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission. The most incidents occurred in Ramallah and Al-Bireh (360), followed by Hebron (348), Bethlehem (342), and Nablus (334).
All settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law.
Excluding East Jerusalem, which was occupied and annexed by Israel in 1967, some 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, along with about 3 million Palestinian residents.
