WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has approved the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey following the Turkish government’s ratification this week of Sweden’s membership in NATO. This move is an important development in the expansion of the alliance, which has become even more important since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The State Department notified Congress late Friday of its approval of a $23 billion sale of F-16s to Turkey, along with an accompanying sale of advanced F-35 fighter jets worth $8.6 billion dollars to Greece. The move came just hours after Turkey deposited its “instrument of ratification” for Sweden’s accession to NATO with Washington, the repository for alliance documents, and after several key members of Congress withdrew their objections.
The sale to Turkey includes 40 new F-16s and equipment to modernize 79 of the existing F-16 fleet. The sale to Greece includes 40 F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters and related equipment.
NATO ally Turkey has long sought to upgrade its F-16 fleet and had made ratification of Sweden’s membership conditional on approving sales of the new planes. The Biden administration had supported the sale, but several lawmakers had raised objections over human rights concerns.
Those objections, including from chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sens. Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Jim Risch, R-Idaho, have now been overcome, officials said.
Cardin said in a statement on Friday that he was still concerned about Turkey’s record but had agreed to the sale based on commitments Turkey has made to improve it. “I look forward to starting this new chapter in our relationship with Turkey, expanding the NATO alliance and working with our global allies to resist continued Russian aggression against its peaceful neighbors,” he said.
Turkey had delayed approving Sweden’s NATO membership for more than a year, ostensibly because it believed that Sweden was not taking Turkey’s national security concerns seriously enough, including the fight against Kurdish militants and other groups that Ankara viewed as a threat to considers safety.
The delays had frustrated the US and other NATO allies, almost all of which had been quick to include both Sweden and Finland in the alliance after the Nordic states dropped their longstanding military neutrality following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Sweden’s formal accession to NATO now depends on Hungary, the last remaining NATO ally that has not approved its membership. U.S. and NATO officials have said they expect Hungary to act quickly, especially after Turkey’s decision.