US Lawmakers send letter to Biden - "The Erdogan regime is using F-16s against Greece and Cyprus"
- Written by E.Tsiliopoulos
US lawmakers are trying to block the supply of F-16s to Turkey, through a bipartisan amendment filed in the House of Representatives.
Rhode Island State Senator Lou Raptakis is leading a group of dozens of Hellenic-American State Legislators to rally behind the cause. The initiative of Democrats and Republicans has been widely accepted, both in the House and in the Senate.
This amendment links the release of fighters to Ankara's delinquent behavior in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean.
In fact, in a letter to Joe Biden, the senators ask that no new fighter jets be given to Turkey, since it uses them to violate Greece's airspace.
The Letter of the Lawmakers in detail
On June 30, President Biden confirmed his intentions to proceed with the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. In his remarks, he noted that before proceeding with any arms sales and transfers, Congress would have to approve the request.
While Turkey's backtracking on its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO is a welcome development, there are still too many outstanding issues not to proceed with the sale of F-16s to the Erdogan government. Over the past decade, Turkey has not been a productive member of NATO or a reliable US ally.
Turkey, specifically the Defense Industry Directorate, remains under sanctions through the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) as a result of its purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system. The Biden administration has not provided answers on how Turkey would qualify to be exempt from those sanctions and how the administration would mitigate the risks of the F-16s co-existing with a Russian weapons system. After all, this is why Turkey withdrew from the F-35 program.
Since the beginning of 2022, Turkey has violated the airspace of NATO ally Greece more than 2,377 times, including 120 overflights over Greek territory. Turkey's competitive actions in the Aegean, as well as its hostile attitude towards the Greek government, make it clear that the Turks do not intend to suspend these aggressive and destabilizing actions anytime soon.
If the United States were to proceed with the sale of F-16s, American-made warplanes would undoubtedly be used to violate Greek airspace. That would violate the Arms Export Control Act, which only allows the transfer of equipment for legitimate self-defense operations. Over the past seven months, none of Turkey's actions in the Aegean in relation to Greece could be described as defensive, but rather intimidation. The US administration has not provided information on how it is working to stop Turkey from these hostile actions towards a US ally.
Finally, in addition to Turkey's aggression in the Eastern Mediterranean, President Erdogan has announced that he is on the verge of a new invasion of Syria with the specific intention of targeting Kurdish forces in the North. Many of these forces have fought in the past and assisted US operations in the region. If Turkey were to acquire F-16 fighter systems, they would clearly be used in this new offensive against our Syrian Kurdish allies. The administration has not provided information on how it will ensure that these individuals, on whom we have relied in the past and may need to do so again in the future, are protected from US-deployed weapons.
Until the administration can provide appropriate answers as to how it intends to mitigate the aforementioned concerns, we will continue to oppose this arms transfer and do everything we can to ensure that these F-16s do not will be handed over to the Turkish government.
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