Late Thursday, the United States Senate greenlit the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey despite also adopting a substantial censure of the Islamic country’s actions as an ally. The decision comports with a prior agreement that Turkey would receive the jets if they ceased opposing Sweden’s induction into NATO. Sweden’s admission to the defense alliance is allegedly critical for Ukraine’s ongoing defense against Russia’s invasion.
“A deal’s a deal,” said Sen. Jim Risch (R-Ind), who also serves as the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Meanwhile, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky), who brought forth a resolution to halt the sale, referred to the situation as a “quid pro quo” scenario. The U.S. sale of the fighter jets follows Turkey’s decision to end its opposition to Sweden’s NATO membership, which in turn boosts NATO support for Ukraine. The Senate voted 79 to 13 to defeat Paul’s resolution.
Despite expressing dissatisfaction with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamist government, Senators argued the importance of Sweden’s addition to NATO outweighed the costs. “What I am here to do is defend the importance of NATO,” Sen. Risch said.
The State Department approved the $23 billion F-16 sales to Turkey and an additional $8.6 billion sale of F-35 fighter jets to Greece in January. Biden government officials announced their intent to proceed with the sale immediately after Turkey officially approved Sweden’s entrance into NATO.
