Turkey wants US made fighter jets and this must be stopped

Turkey is making efforts to get out of the corner it's gotten itself in after years of outraging loyal Washington allies, including, apart from Greece and Cyprus, Israel, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, staging incursions into Iraq and Kurdistan, and of course buying Russian weapon systems (s-400 missiles) and destabilizing NATO's souther flank.

Turkey submitted a request to the United States in October for the purchase of 40 Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets and nearly 80 modernization kits for its existing fighter jets. Washington has so far refrained from commenting on the sale, saying it must go through the formal arms sales process.

The sale of US weapons to Turkey has become controversial in the country following Ankara's acquisition of a Russian-made S-400 missile defense system, prompting US sanctions and Turkey's withdrawal from the F-35 fighter jet program.

The State Department letter, first published by Reuters, is dated March 17 and is signed by Nazi Durakoglu. Born in the US to Turkish parents, Durakoglu acknowledged the strained relations, while describing Turkey's support and defense ties with Ukraine as "a significant deterrent to malicious influence in the region".

While the letter did not provide any assurances or timing of the sale, it stressed that Washington's sanctions following the purchase of Russian S-400 systems from Ankara were "a significant price paid".

"The administration believes, however, that there are urgent long-term interests in the unity and capabilities of the NATO alliance, as well as national security interests, US economic and trade interests backed by appropriate US defense trade ties with Turkey." referred to in the letter.

"The proposed sale will require information to Congress if approved by the State Department," the letter said.

It is noted that Turkey shares a maritime border with Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea, has good relations with both countries and has hosted talks between the two countries in Istanbul. Ankara has expressed support for Ukraine, but has also opposed Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

While it has forged close ties with Russia in the energy, defense and trade sectors and relies heavily on Russian tourists, Turkey has sold drones to Ukraine, angering Moscow.

The State Department letter is in response to a February 4 letter led by Republican MP Frank Pallone and more than 50 lawmakers from both parties urging the Biden government to reject the Ankara market, citing the lack of of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to NATO and the "huge human rights violations".

It is recalled that the US had imposed sanctions on the Turkish defense industry after the purchase of Russian S-400s.

Ankara had previously ordered more than 100 US F-35s, but Washington removed Turkey from the program because of the purchase of Russian S-400s. Turkey had called the move unfair and demanded a refund of the $ 1.4 billion it had paid. It is noted that Lockheed Martin manufactures F-35s and F-16s.

In a phone call on March 10, Erdogan told US President Joe Biden that the time had come to lift all "unfair" sanctions on the Turkish defense industry and that Turkey was awaiting its request to buy the F- 16 to be satisfied as soon as possible.