Joe Biden, the President of the United States, said on Monday that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called to reaffirm Ankara’s interest in purchasing F-16 fighter jets from the United States, while Biden informed Erdogan that the United States favored Sweden’s accession to NATO and that Turkey should withdraw its objection.
This conversation occurred when Biden called Erdogan to congratulate him on Sunday’s presidential election victory in Turkey.
On a question, Biden said, “We’re going to talk more about Sweden’s NATO membership with him next week.”
In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership last year, abandoning long-held policies of military nonalignment. All NATO members must approve membership applications. Turkey and Hungary have not yet accepted Sweden’s application.
Turkey accepted Finland into NATO at the end of March, but it has maintained its opposition to Sweden on the grounds that the country protects members of militant groups it views as terrorists. Sweden’s bid has not yet been accepted by Hungary.
The United States has been approached by Turkey to sell F-16s and nearly 80 modernization kits valued at $20 billion. However, the sale has been halted because of objections from the U.S. Congress regarding Ankara’s refusal to approve NATO expansion, its human rights record, and Syria policy, despite the Biden administration’s repeated statements of support for the sale.
In a statement following the call, the Turkish Presidency said Biden and Erdogan agreed to strengthen their bilateral ties in all areas, which have become more important in light of regional and global challenges.
