F-16 Sale Could Mend U.S., Turkey Ties, But Tension With Russia Intrudes
The Biden administration is weighing a Turkish proposal to buy a fleet of F-16 jet fighters that officials in Ankara say would mend ruptured security links between the countries, but the sale faces opposition from members of Congress critical of Turkey’s growing ties to Russia.
Senior Turkish officials say the deal could be a lifeline for their relationship with the U.S., which has suffered for years over Turkey’s purchases of Russian arms, clashing interests in the war in Syria and U.S. criticism of Ankara’s human-rights record. And in both countries, analysts say blocking the sale could push Ankara closer to Russia.
The prospect of F-16 sales to Turkey, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, comes as Russia is testing the alliance’s resolve on the Ukrainian border, where Moscow has deployed tens of thousands of troops and prompted fears of an invasion.
The deal has its origin in 1999, when Turkey joined the American-led international consortium building the F-35 advanced jet fighter. In 2017, Ankara decided to buy the Russian S-400 air defense system over objections from the U.S., which feared it could hack into the F-35s. In response, two years later the U.S. expelled Turkey from the F-35 program.
With the F-35 out of reach, the new F-16s would replace aging F-16s and F-4 jets in Turkey’s fleet. But the proposed sale faces resistance from lawmakers who take a dim view of the S-400 purchase, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
close relationship with Russian President
and Turkish policies in the eastern Mediterranean, U.S. officials and congressional aides said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has developed closer ties with Russia.
Photo:
adem altan/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
The Biden administration hasn’t signaled whether it will back the F-16 deal. U.S. arms export control laws require the administration to notify Congress of proposed foreign military sales, giving lawmakers a chance to review and oppose or try to block a deal. The administration hasn’t formally notified Congress about the proposed F-16 sale.
“It would hit speed bumps,” a congressional aide said. “The question is would those speed bumps break it apart, or would it be able to make it over them?”
The proposed deal illustrates the complex national-security issues in the U.S. relationship with Turkey, a NATO ally and regional power that hosts thousands of American soldiers. The decades-old security relationship between Ankara and Washington has become strained in recent years as Mr. Erdogan has formed closer ties with Russia. Turkey has also attacked U.S.-backed Kurdish militias in…
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