Turkish delegation heads to US for talks over F-16 fighters

A technical delegation headed to Washington to proceed in the talks for the procurement and modernization of F-16 fighters as soon as possible, the Turkish defense ministry said on Twitter. 

Turkey in September presented its official letter of request for 40 new F-16 fighters and modernization kits for 79 aircrafts in its existing fleet.

The ministry said this will be the fourth meeting after the delegations convened three times to assess technical details in December, February and March. 

Turkish Cumhuriyet Newspaper claimed that in this meeting the delegations will work on finalizing a Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LoA), a document that breaks down all the financial and technical details of the sale.

The LoA, once ready, will be presented by the US Administration to Congress to get the approval necessary for the transfer of the fighter jets. 

The US House of Representatives last month passed an amendment that would restrict the ability of the Biden Administration to sell or transfer the fighter jets to Turkey.

The amendment requires Biden to provide guarantees to Congress that in the 120 days prior to the transfer the Turkish government has not "violated the sovereignty of Greece, including through territorial overflights."

But the amendment, to become law, also needs to pass from the Senate. Turkey already expressed hope that the senators would abolish the amendment.