Turkey assesses possible blocking of US F-16 sales

The official representative of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ibrahim Kalin, commented on the possible blocking of the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Ankara from the United States. They spoke about this in an interview with CNN.

Kalyn assessed the possible blocking of the sale of the F-16 and said that this decision would harm the United States. According to him, if Congress links the supply of fighters with the entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO, then Washington will have to wait a long time.

“If the deal ends up being blocked by Congress, then that is their problem, not ours. We have our own air force, military. Of course, we would like to cooperate with the United States on defense issues, but if they decide to go this way [отказа]then this is their choice, ”Kalyn emphasized.

Erdogan’s spokesman added that Turkey has an action plan for such a development. He stressed that Ankara has been strengthening the national defense industry for a long time.

“Our UAVs have shown the world how capable they are. We will simply develop our national defense capabilities. The losers will be American defense companies,” the official concluded.

Earlier, US President Joe Biden was urged to delay the sale of fighter jets to Turkey until it approves the applications of Sweden and Finland to join NATO. This initiative was made by a bipartisan group of senators.