US President Joe Biden’s intention to procure Turkey with F-16s “in consultation with Congress” was announced by US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, a few hours after the talks with Erdogan resulted in the Turkish president’s “yes” to Sweden’s NATO membership.

Hours before Joe Biden met with Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Lithuania, Sullivan said the US president “was clear that he supports this transfer”.

“He has no reservations about it. He intends to go ahead with this transfer,” the Biden administration’s national security adviser added, as reported by Reuters, without, however, giving further details on the timing.

It should be recalled that Turkey has since October 2021 submitted a request to buy F-16s and also to proceed with the modernization of another 80 for $20 billion.

Menendez: I am in talks with the Biden administration on F-16s in Turkey

This follows a statement by the chairman of the US Senate International Relations Committee, Robert Menendez, that he is in talks with the administration of US President Joe Biden regarding his position on the potential sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey.

He told Reuters news agency, as he continues to maintain his concerns about Turkey, he will decide next week whether to lift his reservations regarding the sale of these fighters to Turkey.

Asked whether Erdogan’s agreement to push through the Turkish parliament the ratification of the protocol for Sweden’s NATO membership, which Washington considers a major advance, would prompt him to lift his reservations about the sale of the fighters, Menendez replied, “We are in talks with the government. If (the Biden administration) can find a way to ensure that Turkey’s aggression against its neighbours ends, and we’ve seen a decline in recent months, that would be great, but that has to become a permanent reality,” the Democratic senator added.

Robert Menendez also said that a way should be found to “strengthen Greece’s security” and to provide “assurances about future actions.”

Asked when he would decide what stance to take on the sale of F-16s to Turkey, Menendez said he would “probably” do so, if “feasible”, within “the next week”.

Athens reaction

In the Greek government, the evening’s “yes” vote on Sweden’s NATO membership did not surprise many. Information about a “deal” in the works had, after all, been known since Monday morning. Similarly, the Greek government is not concerned about the prospect of a broader agreement that brings Turkey closer to the Alliance again. The reason is simple: the normalisation of Greek-Turkish relations will be a necessary condition, as Mr. Erdogan should not act as a destabilsing factor for NATO in its Southeastern leg.

At the same time, even if a Turkish F-16 upgrade process were to move forward with strict conditionality, Athens does not feel there is anything to threaten it. Turkey will take years to complete the process and by then the country will have completed the process of upgrading its own F-16 fleet while waiting for the first F-35s. Any “misstep” by Turkey in the meantime will have consequences. It remains to be seen what the details of this package will be, how many aircraft the first “batch” will consist of, and what possible financial tools the US could use to reduce the footprint of the supply of fifth-generation fighters for the Greek economy.

Mitsotakis at NATO

In view of all this, Mitsotakis arrives in Vilnius this morning and will arrive at the Summit at noon. He had yesterday taken a position in favour of the immediate need for Sweden to become a member of NATO in his joint statements with Latvian Prime Minister Karins in Riga.

Great news that Sweden will be joining us soon as the 32nd member of our Alliance. This makes us all safer and stronger. Looking forward to the process being completed!

– Prime Minister GR (@PrimeministerGR) July 11, 2023

The Prime Minister will participate in the work of the Summit, later he will see Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama against the background of the serious deterioration of Greek-Albanian relations on the occasion of the imprisonment of Fredi Beleri, as well as Montenegrin President Jakov Milatovic. In the evening, Kyriakos Mitsotakis will attend a dinner hosted by the President of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda, for the leaders of the NATO member states at the Presidential Palace.

It is obvious that developments on the Swedish front are also affecting Mitsotakis ‘ one-on-one meeting with Erdogan on Wednesday, in which Greek sources see a “window of opportunity” for normalising Greek-Turkish relations, but also rerouting various levels of dialogue, such as exploratory contacts and the MoU. On Wednesday, before the leaders’ meeting, Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis will have separate meetings with his new Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan and Nikos Dendias with his counterpart Yasar Güler. On Wednesday, Mitsotakis will have the opportunity to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and the Prime Minister of North Macedonia Dimitar Kovacevski.