US Senator, Bob Menendezdoes not change his opinion on the sale of F-16s to Turkey and makes it clear that as long as he is chairman of the International Relations Committee of the American Senate, he is not going to give his approval for Ankara to receive the fighters.
“Contrary to some claims, the #NDAA is not a victory for Turkey. This is just one of many tools available to us in the Senate to address gun sales. I’ll say it again.
As President, I will NOT authorize F-16s for Turkey until Erdogan stops his abuses throughout the region…”, Bob Menendez said in a tweet.
Message from Congress to Turkey regarding overflights over the Greek islands
The US Congress chose to send a clear message to Turkey about the overflights over the Greek islands, which included a relevant reference in the accompanying text of the defense budget (NDAA) that was finalized last night.
“We believe that NATO allies should not conduct unauthorized overflights into the airspace of other NATO allies,” the US lawmakers note in accompanying explanatory text to the House and Senate Defense Affairs committees.
The specific wording is considered a statement of legislative intent from Congress to the Biden administration, as it sends the message that Ankara’s challenges in the Aegean must be addressed before the White House sends formal notification of the F-16 deal to Congress.
The report on overflights is the result of months of negotiations in Congress to include an amendment in the text of the bill. In particular, according to the response of the Athens News Agency, in the section on the transport of F16s, which is entitled “restrictions on the transport of F-16 aircraft”, it is recalled that the text of the Parliament included the amendment of Chris Papas, which would prohibit the US president to sell or authorize the export of new F-16 aircraft or upgrade technology or modernization kits to Turkey, unless the president provided certain certifications.
Next, it is noted that the Senate text does not contain a similar amendment and therefore the final text does not include such a provision.
Source: News Beast
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