Fighter jets, quakes, NATO stakes: Are US-Turkish ties on a reset?

Leela JACINTO
Tue, 21 February 2023 

© Burhan Ozbilici, AP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Monday came in the wake of the devastating earthquakes that have rattled the Turkish leader’s projection of his country as a regional hegemon. With Turkey turning into a recipient of generous US humanitarian aid, will Ankara play the role of Washington’s friend rather than foe?

Senator Bob Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey and head of the powerful US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, took the floor on December 19 to deliver a scathing inventory of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s domestic and foreign policy misdeeds.

“The United States must take the Turkish president’s actions seriously,” Menendez told the Senate. “We need to hold Erdogan accountable for his behaviour when he violates international laws, or challenges democratic norms, or allows his forces to commit human rights abuses,” the US senator continued before hitting the objective of his speech.

“That is why, as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I will not approve any F-16s for Turkey until he [Erdogan] halts his campaign of aggression across the entire region,” said Menendez.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee head was referring to a $20 billion sale of new F-16 fighter jets to Turkey.

"The Biden administration strongly supports the package to both upgrade the existing F-16s and to provide new ones," said Blinken, adding that as a defence ally, Turkey should have “full interoperability” with NATO systems.