Thirty-five US Congress members, have joined forces to oppose the sale of F-16s to Turkey.
Democrats and Republicans Congress members, among them the Greek-Americans Gus Bilirakis, Chris Papas, John Sarbanis, Nicole Malliotaki, Philhellene Carolyn Maloney co-signed the letter as they said they will take any action necessary as members of Congress to prevent the sale of the F-16s as if this if approved, Erdogan’s destabilizing actions will be strengthened.
“We have strongly urged the rejection of this sale because it would reward President Recep Tayyip Erdog?an for ignoring Turkey’s alliance commitments to the United States and NATO and the vast human rights abuses his regime continues to commit at home and abroad,” they say.
Erdogan, the point out, “has consistently chosen to prioritize divisive tactics for personal gain above the collective good of his allies.”
According to the members of Congress “his choice to block Finland and Sweden from joining NATO until he received absurd and unrelated concessions makes it clear that he has done the bare minimum to bolster NATO’s strategic posture since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered the largest crisis the alliance has faced in decades.”
“The sale of American advanced fighter jets to Turkey will not incentivize Erdogan to suddenly transform into a good ally. More likely, these weapons will lead to further death and destruction in the region. Turkey also continues to utilize S-400 missile defense systems, which potentially exposes important tactical information about U.S. weaponry and military operations to Russia,” the note.
Finally, they stress that the United States must not provide any further support to Turkey’s military until tangible steps are taken to halt his destabilizing actions and violations of international law at home and abroad.
Source: Cyprus News Agency