Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters that US President Joe Biden said he "will do his best" to have the F-16 fighter jets sold to Turkey. Biden is also reported to have said that there is only a 50% chance that the US Congress and Senate will approve the purchase.
Erdogan made the remarks to reporters from the Yeni Safak newspaper as he returned from the G20 summit on Sunday (31). He reported that his meeting with Biden took place “in a very positive atmosphere”, despite the latest tensions between the two countries. In October, Erdogan said that Washington had proposed funding for 40 F-16 fighters and another 80 kits for modernization.
The deal would be a form of compensation for the amount of US$ 1.4 billion that Turkey invested in the F-35. Ankara was kicked out of the stealth fighter program after acquiring S-400 defense systems from Russia. A day after Erdogan's speech, the US Department of State denied financing of F-16s.
“As you know, we have a payout of $1,4 billion. On this issue, we negotiated the acquisition of F-16s. I have not seen any negative attitude from Biden in this regard.", Erdogan said. Turkey currently has the second largest fleet of F-16s, with 245 fighters in operation, behind only the United States.
Turkey denies that the Russian missile system poses a security risk, insisting that the S-400s could be used independently without integration into NATO systems. The Turkish president also said that his country could buy a second Russian missile system, despite the controversy surrounding the initial purchase.
Syria and Economy
According to Erdogan, he and Biden also spoke about cooperation in Syria, Libya, Afghanistan and the eastern Mediterranean. In the latter region, tensions between Turkey and Greece — which have been at odds for centuries — have increased over energy claims, says the Associated Press. The two also discussed increasing economic and trade cooperation.
Turkey and the United States also differ sharply over the role of Kurdish fighters in Syria. The Kurds are an important Washington ally in the battle against the Islamic State. Turkey regards them as "terrorists" d with illegal Kurdish militants fighting inside Turkey and demands that Washington suspend its for the group.
“If we are allies in NATO, our partners in NATO should not try such a thing”, Erdogan said. He reiterated that Turkey was prepared to launch another offensive inside Syria to pursue Kurdish militants if necessary.
