Turkey is lobbying the US Congress regarding the modernisation of its air force, through the upgrade of 80 F-16s that it has and the purchase of another 40 from the USA, and according to the Turkish newspaper “Cumhuriyet”, Ankara has hired an Israeli lobby firm in Washington which specialises in this field.

Representatives of the company, according to the same sources, have already contacted 150 members of Congress to inform them about Turkey’s positions, emphasising the important role that Ankara plays in NATO.

The report states that the latest efforts are being made by the Turkish side to overturn the position of the Congress against arming Turkey, before the arrival of Mevlut Cavusoglu in the United States on May 18. In Ankara, they have reportedly acknowledged that they can not do anything about acquiring F-35s, but at least they want to move the issue forward with F-16s.