White House urges Congress approval for $20 billion F-16 sale to Turkey

US President Joe Biden’s White House sent a letter to members of Congress on Wednesday urging approval of a $20 billion sale of Lockheed Martin F-16 aircraft and modernization kits to Turkey, four sources familiar with the letter said.

Turkey’s parliament ratified Sweden’s NATO membership bid on Tuesday, clearing a major hurdle to expanding the Western military alliance after 20 months of delay. The sources said the letter was sent on Wednesday, and that the administration has not yet formally notified Congress of plans for the sale.

Turkey’s delay in approving the ratification had been a major obstacle to winning congressional approval for the fighter jet deal. Lawmakers had said they were awaiting its approval – including President Tayyip Erdogan’s signature – before deciding whether to approve the sale.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

The US State Department also urged Ankara on Wednesday to formally finalize Sweden’s NATO ratification. To do that, Erdogan needs to sign the legislation, which then would be published in Turkey’s Official Gazette. The instrument of accession for Sweden also needs to be sent to Washington.

The Biden administration is likely to send the formal notification for the F-16 sale once those steps are complete, although the State Department declined to provide an exact timeline.

“President Biden, Secretary Blinken have been very clear of our support for modernizing Turkey’s F-16 fleet, which we view as a key investment in NATO interoperability. But beyond that … I’m just not going to confirm or get ahead of proposed defense sales or transfers until they are formally notified to Congress,” State Department’s Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told a news briefing.

Turkey in October 2021 asked to purchase $20 billion of Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters and nearly 80 modernization kits for its existing warplanes.

Leaders of the US Senate Foreign Relations and House of Representatives Foreign Affairs committees review every major foreign arms sale. They regularly ask questions or raise concerns over human rights or diplomatic issues that can delay or stop such deals.

Sweden and Finland applied to enter NATO after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. While Finnish membership was sealed last year, Sweden’s bid had been held up by Turkey and Hungary.

All NATO members need to approve applications from countries seeking to join the alliance. When Sweden and Finland asked to join, Turkey raised objections over what it said was the two countries’ protection of groups it deems terrorists.