Türkiye's dual triumphs: "F16 acquistion and NATO expansion"

The United States and Türkiye have reached a compromise on perhaps one of the most fundamentally important issues for Ankara. As previously reported, on February 11, the US Congress decided to approve a deal with Türkiye to sell it 40 new and upgrade 79 existing F-16 fighter jets. "The decision of Congress is a big step forward. Türkiye's fleet of F-16s is critical to NATO forces to ensure future interoperability between allies," Jeffrey Flake, Head of the US diplomatic mission in Ankara, wrote on social network X.

In turn, TRT TV channel reported that the two-week process of consideration of the Turkish application, which began on January 26, was completed without any obstacles to further implementation of the deal. As it is known, during these two weeks, congressmen had the opportunity to file objections, and only Senator Rand Paul (Republican from Kentucky) did so by submitting his objection to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. But, as the TV channel notes, his appeal did not receive further progress before the deadline for consideration of the Turkish application. Thus, from the point of view of US legislation, there are no obstacles left to finalise the sale of fighter jets to Türkiye.

Türkiye requested these aircraft from the United States in 2021, but the issue did not receive the approval of the States since Ankara purchased S-400 surface-to-air missile systems (SAMs) from Russia back in 2017. For this reason, the US Congress urged the Washington administration to put pressure on Ankara. It should be noted that Türkiye was the first NATO country to purchase these systems from Russia, which caused a sharply negative reaction not only from Washington but also from the alliance. As a consequence, the US excluded Türkiye from its programme to produce the F-35 fifth-generation fighter bomber. Last January, US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said in an interview with CNN Turk that Washington was ready to return Ankara to the F-35 programme if the issue of Russian S-400s purchased by Ankara could be resolved. Nuland's proposal comes after the US State Department approved Ankara's request to sell it several dozen modernised F-16 fighter jets, as well as modernise old fighters of this model in service with the Turkish Air Force.

To recall, Ankara tried to negotiate with Washington at the expense of Sweden's NATO membership. Only after the Turkish parliament ratified the protocol on Sweden's NATO membership, the State Department immediately sent a deal to Congress to sell F-16 fighter jets to Türkiye and modernise the existing aircraft for a total of $22 billion.

At the same time, in early February 2024, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on A-haber TV channel that the US used the purchase of S-400 from Russia as a pretext to exclude Türkiye from the F-35 fighter jet programme, as a result of which Ankara suffered losses and its operational capabilities were weakened.

The Turkish side has made it clear to the states that it has no plans to give up the S-400 for the F-35, confirming that it adheres to its own interests and principles in foreign policy despite external pressure. Therefore, it is not surprising that even though the US had long threatened Türkiye with sanctions for buying the S-400, the White House only took this step in 2020. On the other hand, Ankara warned that it would not leave the use of such sanctions unanswered.

On the other hand, Ankara warned that it would not leave the application of such sanctions unanswered. Therefore, Washington's decision to supply Ankara with F-16 fighter jets can be regarded not only as a diplomatic success for Ankara but also as an indicator that Türkiye is of great importance to the United States not only as a NATO ally but also as a serious geopolitical player whose opinion has to be reckoned with. This is not surprising either, as Türkiye is probably the only country that says that the US should not ignore its importance by limiting itself to the word "thank you" and openly voices its complaints to the White House about American support for the PKK/PYD in Syria.

Türkiye and Hungary are the only countries that managed to slow down the process of NATO expansion, blocking Sweden's entry into the military bloc, guided by their own national interests, while making the US and all the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance reckon with them. That is why in the middle of last week (a few days before it became known about the US agreement to supply F-16 fighters), TRT Haber TV channel, citing sources in the Ministry of Defence of the Republic, reported that the Turkish authorities were counting on a positive decision of the US Congress on the sale of combat aircraft to Ankara.

"We do not expect any negative developments on the issue of F-16 deliveries from the US," the broadcaster quoted a military spokesman as saying.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said earlier that he expects a decision on the fighter jets from the US Congress by 10 February, as there was a preliminary agreement between Ankara and Washington that Washington would take action on the F-16 sale after the Turkish parliament approves Sweden's application to NATO.

To summarise what has been said, the main point should be noted. Firstly, Türkiye achieved the supply of American arms while retaining the Russian S-400s in its military arsenal, which was fundamentally important for Ankara.

Secondly, contrary to last year's statements by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that the supply of American F-16 fighter jets to Türkiye was not part of the deal to admit Sweden to NATO, having given the green light for the Swedes to join the military bloc, Türkiye received certain promises from the Swedish side to stop supporting Kurdish terrorist organisations and to assist Ankara in the issue of European integration. Türkiye, as a strong player in global politics, has once again shown its ability to promote its interests in the system of international coordinates, without falling foul of either the world hegemon or its NATO allies.