US says F-16 sale to Turkey serves NATO interests in letter to Congress

By Trend

The United States administration has underlined in a letter to the Congress that the potential sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey would serve both U.S. and NATO security interests, Trend reports citing Hurriyet Daily News.

“The Administration believes that there are nonetheless compelling long-term NATO alliance unity and capability interests, as well as U.S. national security, economic and commercial interests that are supported by appropriate U.S. defense trade ties with Turkey,” read a letter sent by Naz Durakoglu.

Turkey had demanded to purchase 40 new F-16 jet fighters and around 80 modernization kits in a bid to keep its air fleet intact after it was excluded from the joint F-35 fifth-generation fighter jet program due to its deployment of Russian S-400 air defense systems.

She also recalled Turkey’s active contributions to NATO, stressing: “Turkey is a longstanding NATO ally with the second-largest army in the alliance. It’s an active contributor to NATO missions, including most recently in Eastern Europe, the Black Sea, the Balkans and Afghanistan. Turkey’s support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and cooperative defense relations are an important deterrent to malign influence in the region.”