The United States is preparing the potential $20 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Türkiye as the Biden administration has conveyed its intention to Congress, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Yet, the move sparked an immediate objection from a senior U.S. lawmaker who has long opposed the deal.
The State Department sent the informal notice to Congress on Thursday, three sources said, informing committees overseeing arms sales in the Senate and House of Representatives of its intention to proceed with the proposed deal.
NATO member Türkiye has been seeking to modernize its existing warplanes to update its air force and sought to buy 40 Lockheed Martin F-16 jets and nearly 80 modernization kits from the U.S. Technical talks between the two sides recently concluded.
The Biden administration has said it supports the sale and has been in touch for months with Congress on an informal basis to win its approval. However, it has failed so far to secure a green light.
“As I have repeatedly made clear, I strongly oppose the Biden administration’s proposed sale of new F-16 aircraft to Turkey,” Senator Bob Menendez, Democratic chairperson of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement.
While the sale is still in the informal review process, Congress is unlikely to approve the deal as long as Türkiye refuses to ratify Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership.
The two countries ended decades of neutrality last May and applied to join NATO in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Still, Türkiye objected and highlighted that the countries are harboring terrorists, including from the PKK terrorist group, and demanded steps be taken.
At a press conference on Saturday, chief foreign policy adviser and Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın said Washington’s demands relating to the supply of the fighter jets were “endless.”
“If they keep pushing Türkiye in other directions with F-16 (and) F-35 sanctions, and then Türkiye reacts, they blame Türkiye again, then that’s not a fair game,” Kalın said. “It looks like their list of demands is endless. So there’s always something.”
The notification, first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Friday, comes as Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu prepares to visit Washington on Wednesday on a trip during which, in addition to bilateral relations, a host of disagreements, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Finland and Sweden’s bid to join NATO are expected to be high on agenda.
Following the informal review, during which committee leaders can ask questions or raise concerns about the sale, the administration can technically go ahead with a formal notification. But a senior U.S. official said he was “doubtful” the administration would be in a position to proceed unless Menendez dropped his objection.
Last July, the House of Representatives approved legislation to bar the sale to Türkiye unless the Biden administration certifies that doing so is essential to U.S. national security. It also described concrete steps taken to ensure they are not used for “unauthorized overflights” of Greece.
These amendments were removed in the final U.S. defense spending bill.
Ankara has been voicing its firm opposition to any conditions on the sale of the jets.
Meanwhile, Menendez also said he welcomed news of the sale of new F-35 fighter aircraft for Greece, referring to Athens as a “trusted NATO ally” and saying the deal “strengthens our two nations’ abilities to defend shared principles including our collective defense, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”
Ankara had said it might consider alternatives, including Russia, if the U.S. fails to follow through on its promise to deliver F-16s to the Turkish air forces.
The sale of U.S. weapons to Türkiye became contentious after Ankara acquired Russian-made S-400 defense missile systems. The deal triggered U.S. sanctions and Türkiye’s removal from the next-generation F-35 fighter jet program.
A State Department spokesperson declined to comment, saying the department does not confirm or comment on proposed arms sales or transfers until the administration formally requests Congress approval.
Under U.S. law, Congress can block a sale by passing a resolution of disapproval after formal notification of a deal. Still, it is unlikely to do so if President Joe Biden decides to go ahead despite lawmakers’ objections. While Congress has passed such resolutions, it has never mustered the two-thirds majority needed in both chambers to overcome a presidential veto.
