Erdogan: Menendez's resignation enables Türkiye to buy F-16 fighter jets

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that US Senator Bob Menendez’s resignation gives Türkiye an advantage to buy F-16 fighter jets from the US as he was the only one who opposed the sale.

"We are now awaiting a clear response from the US on this issue," Turkiye Gazetesi quotes the president as saying.

“Hopefully, we will get a positive outcome soon. US Senator Bob Menendez, who was one of the biggest obstacles to the sale and modernisation of F-16s from the US to our country, was forced to temporarily resign from his post following corruption charges against him. The White House was responsible for both submissions on the sale of F-16s to the Senate,” Erdogan said.

The Turkish leader noted that one of Ankara’s most important issues related to the F-16s was the activities of US Senator Bob Menendez against Türkiye: “People with this mentality are carrying out obstructive activities against us, not only on F-16s but on all other issues.”

Erdogan also said he had instructed Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to deal with the issue.

"US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and our Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met in America three or four days ago. Those talks are still ongoing. But now it would be useful to turn this situation into an opportunity and meet with him again. In this way, we may have an opportunity to speed up the process regarding the F-16. We expect a clear response from the US on this issue. We hope that we will get the expected positive result without much delay," the president added.