The US president says he expects more discussions next week after a phone call to his Turkish counterpart, in which he congratulates him on his re-election.
US President Joe Biden has congratulated his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his re-election as the two leaders also discussed issues such as Turkey buying F-16 fighter jets and Sweden joining NATO.
In Monday’s phone exchange, Erdogan reiterated Ankara’s desire to buy the US-made plane, while Biden told him Washington wanted Ankara to drop its objection to Sweden’s membership of the transatlantic military alliance, the president of the United States said. the United States.
“I have spoken with Erdogan. I congratulated Erdogan. He wants to do something about the F-16s. I told him we wanted a deal with Sweden, so let’s get it done. And that’s how we’ll be in touch again,” Biden told reporters at the White House.
Asked if he expected any movement from Erdogan about Sweden’s NATO membership, Biden said: “I raised that issue with him. We will talk more about it next week.”
Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership last year, abandoning long-held policies of military non-alignment following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Membership bids must be approved by all NATO members. Finland joined the US-led alliance last month, but Sweden’s membership was blocked by objections from Turkey and Hungary. Turkey says Stockholm is home to members of armed groups it considers “terrorists”.
Meanwhile, Turkey has been trying to buy $20 billion worth of F-16s and nearly 80 modernization kits from the US.
But the sale has been delayed due to objections from the US Congress over Ankara’s refusal to give the green light to NATO expansion, its human rights record and Syria policy – even though the Biden administration has repeatedly has said it supports the sale.
A much smaller $259 million package, including electronic software upgrades for Turkey’s current fleet of F-16 fighters, was approved by the US Congress earlier this year, days after Turkey ratified Finland’s NATO entry.
The Biden administration has repeatedly rejected any claim of a “quid pro quo” between the sale and NATO expansion, though Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in January that the US side made it clear that approval of NATO bids would be positive. would be reviewed by Congress.
Sweden’s accession to NATO in mid-July, when the alliance will hold a leadership summit in Lithuania, is considered one of Washington’s top priorities.
Erdogan won a runoff against leading opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu on Sunday, extending his 20-year rule to a presidential third term.