F-16 talks with U.S. to finalize in couple of months: Spokesperson

ANKARA

Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın has said the talks with the United States for the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Türkiye are going well and could be completed within a couple of months, noting that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will hold a discussion with his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden.

“This has to be approved by Congress. The Biden administration has sincere intentions on this issue. They said that they want it to pass as soon as possible,” Kalın said in an interview with broadcaster CNNTürk.

“It’s not very easy to give a clear forecast but it appears there is a high probability of the process being completed in the next month or two,” Kalın said.

The modernization of the existing F-16 fleet of Türkiye and the purchase of new F-16s will be resolved if the process concluded positively, he noted.

Türkiye asked the U.S. last year for the purchase of 40 Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-16 fighters and nearly 80 modernization kits for its existing F-16 fleet after the purchase of F-35s failed due to Ankara’s decision to buy Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems.

In September, Erdoğan had talks with U.S. senators and said he had received “positive” feedback from these discussions in New York.

Asked about the U.S. bases in Greece, Kalın said when they have talks with the American officials, Washington stressed that these facilities were not against Türkiye, but they were making these shifts to strengthen NATO’s east-south flank against Russia.

“We tell them that the way the Greeks framed it is very different. When we talk one-on-one, they say there is never such a thing, when we ask them to explain [to the outside], then their tone drops. Greece cannot threaten Türkiye. It has no such power, no such capacity,” the spokesperson said.

Kalın underlined that Ankara did not intend for a conflict with Greece.

Stating that there is a risk of nuclear war between Russia and Ukraine, Kalın said, “There is a risk of nuclear war, we cannot say that it does not exist. Nuclear warheads are balanced on both sides. If someone has to press this button, will they press it when all options are exhausted or not?”