The United States has approved the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey after the Turkish parliament this week ratified Sweden’s NATO membership.
The US Department of State notified Congress of the $23bn agreement to sell the warplanes to NATO ally Turkey on Friday night, along with a companion $8.6bn sale of advanced F-35 fighter jets to Greece, also an ally in the Western military bloc.
The department’s notification came hours after Turkey deposited its “instrument of ratification” for Sweden’s accession to NATO with Washington, which is the repository for alliance documents and after several key members of Congress lifted their objections.
The sale to Turkey includes 40 Lockheed Martin F-16s and equipment to modernise 79 of its existing F-16 fleet. Greece will get 40 F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters and related equipment.
Turkey has long sought to upgrade its F-16 fleet and requested the jets in October 2021, but its delay in approving Sweden’s NATO bid became an obstacle to winning congressional approval.
Ankara had made its ratification of Sweden’s membership contingent on the approval of the sale of the new planes.
President Joe Biden’s administration had supported the sale, but several lawmakers had expressed objections due to Turkey’s human rights record.
