Blinken: Sale of F-16s to Turkey and Sweden's NATO bid are separate matters

Blinken: Sale of F-16s to Turkey and Sweden's NATO bid are separate matters
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the sale of F-16s to Turkey and Sweden's bid for NATO membership are not linked, and the Biden administration supports Turkey's upgraded F-16 program independent of NATO accession.

The sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey and Sweden's bid for NATO membership are two separate matters and the US administration, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a recent interview with Euronews.

Responding to a question about whether Turkey's potential purchase of F-16s was linked to Sweden's NATO membership, Blinken said, ""For us, that's a totally separate question. We support Turkey getting an upgraded F-16 program to include new F-16s, to include modernizing existing F-16s. That is for us, for the Biden administration, independent of the accession process to NATO or for that matter, any other question."

He added:

"Turkey has legitimate interests, and it's worked directly and well with both Finland and Sweden to try to address some of those interests and concerns. I think you've seen the success of that process manifest itself with Finland's accession to NATO. And again, I fully anticipate it'll be the same thing for Sweden in the weeks and months ahead. And in any event, I would anticipate by the Vilnius summit.”

The sale of F-16s to Turkey has been a contentious issue in recent years, with the US Congress placing a hold on the transfer of the aircraft due to concerns about Turkey's human rights record and its flights over the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.