The Biden administration believes a potential sale of F-16 fighter jets to NATO ally Turkey would be in line with U.S. national security interests and would also serve NATO's long-term unity, the U.S. State Department said in a letter to Congress that fell short of explicitly supporting the deal.
The letter comes after Turkey made a request in October to the United States to buy 40 Lockheed Martin-made F-16 fighters and nearly 80 modernization kits for its existing warplanes.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said last month that negotiations with the U.S. were progressing positively.
Washington has so far refrained from expressing any opinion on the sale, saying it needs to go through the standard arms sales process.
The sale of U.S. weapons to NATO ally Turkey became contentious as the U.S. has unilaterally removed Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program after Ankara acquired Russian-made S-400 air defense missile systems.
Washington has also imposed sanctions on the country’s defense industry officials.
The State Department letter, first reported by Reuters, is dated March 17 and signed by the agency's top legislative official Naz Durakoğlu.
She acknowledges the strained relations while at the same time describing Turkey's support and defense ties with Ukraine as "an important deterrent to malign influence in the region."
While the letter doesn't provide any assurance or a timeline for the sale, it emphasizes that Washington's punitive actions after Ankara's purchase of the Russian S-400 systems represent "a significant price paid."
"The Administration believes that there are nonetheless compelling long-term NATO alliance unity and capability interests, as well as U.S. national security, economic and commercial interests that are supported by appropriate U.S. defense trade ties with Turkey," the letter said.
"The proposed sale will require a Congressional notification if the Department of State were to approve it," it added.
Ankara welcomes reports
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Thursday said Ankara welcomes reports about the letter.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels after a NATO meeting, Çavuşoğlu said talks with the U.S. on F-16 jets and modernization kits were going well.
He said his U.S. counterpart Antony Blinken had invited him to Washington for talks on May 18, after the NATO allies launched a platform to improve and strengthen their long-strained ties this week.
The minister also said he and his Canadian counterpart Melanie Joly had agreed at a meeting in Brussels to work to overcome a defense industry embargo imposed on Ankara, targeting equipment for its armed Bayraktar TB2 drones.
Turkey shares a maritime border with Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea, has good relations with both and has hosted talks between the two in Istanbul. It has voiced support for Ukraine, but has also opposed far-reaching Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over the invasion.
Turkey shares a maritime border with Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea, has good ties with both and has hosted talks between the two in Istanbul.
While it has criticized Russia's offensive, Ankara is trying to balance its close ties and has positioned itself as a neutral party trying to mediate.
Erdoğan has repeatedly criticized Russia for invading Ukraine, but also made clear that he wants communication channels with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to remain open.
Ankara purchasing S-400 air missile systems, of which the first delivery arrived in July 2019, has been a point of long-standing contention between Turkey and the U.S.
The U.S. blacklisted Turkey’s Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) and several of its officials, including its chief, Ismail Demir, and removed the country from the F-35 fighter jet program, where it was a major manufacturer and buyer.
In 2002, Turkey joined several other NATO allies who agreed to buy the F-35, and five years later reached a deal to participate in its production, an agreement worth potentially billions of dollars for Turkish industries. Ankara had ordered more than 100 F-35 jets.
Turkey has called the move unjust and demanded reimbursement for its $1.4 billion payment. Lockheed Martin Corp makes the F-35 and the F-16.
Washington argues that the S-400s could be used by Russia to covertly obtain classified details on the F-35 jets and that they are incompatible with NATO systems.
Turkey, however, insists that the S-400 would not be integrated into NATO systems and would not pose a threat to the alliance.
In a call on March 10, Erdoğan told his American counterpart, Joe Biden, that it was past time to lift all "unjust" sanctions on Turkey's defense industry and that Ankara expected its request to purchase F-16s to be finalized as soon as possible.
Ankara says the U.S. should either deliver the F-35 jets that Turkey paid for, return the money or give another product instead. It has stressed it would consider other options if Washington fails to resolve the issue about F-35s or F-16s, or if the U.S. Congress blocks it.
The Biden administration was earlier reported to be supporting the F-16 deal. Yet, the matter could likely face challenges getting approval from Congress, known for its anti-Turkey stance that has repeatedly damaged bilateral relations.
A group of lawmakers in Congress wrote a letter to Biden in October objecting to any F-16 sale.