The US intends to take care of the “long-standing strong relationship with” Türkiye, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stated Wednesday.
“We intend to do everything possible to keep it that way,” Austin advised reporters in response to a query about Ankara’s request to buy F-16 fighter jets and modernization kits for its present fleet.
Austin declined to touch upon any potential arms gross sales forward of official congressional notification however emphasised that “Turkey remains a very valuable partner, and we’ll make sure that we’re doing everything we can to continue to strengthen our relationship.”
Türkiye, a fellow long-standing NATO member, requested in October 2021 to buy 40 F-16 fighter jets, in addition to 80 modernization kits for its present planes.
The Biden administration informally notified Congress of its approval of the sale in January however key lawmakers on Capitol Hill have vowed to nix the deal over a number of calls for, together with making the acquisition contingent on Ankara’s approval of Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership bids.
Asked concerning the potential sale, Turkish presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin stated linking the matter with the gross sales is “completely illogical, unacceptable and counterproductive.”
“It sends a very wrong message, and it doesn’t help the process,” he added Monday throughout a business discussion board in Washington.
Speaking alongside Austin on the Pentagon, Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley was requested about his current go to to northeastern Syria, which strained ties between Washington and Ankara and prompted Türkiye to summon the US’ envoy to debate the overall’s go to.
“My visit was nothing more than a routine troop visit to determine the task, purpose, mission, to go out and check on that, see how we’re doing and assess things like force protection,” he stated. “We’ve got almost 1000 troops in Syria and they are at risk. They are attacked from time to time with various types of munitions by various actors that are in the area of Syria.”
“We’ve been there for years. And the common interest is to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS. The Caliphate was destroyed. But there’s still remnants of that organization over there,” he stated.
“So, it’s in our interest and it’s in Turkey’s interest, and it’s for sure, it’s something that I needed to do and it’s perfectly appropriate for the chairman to go check on how the forces are doing, especially when they’re in harm’s way,” he added.
Türkiye has lengthy voiced opposition to US cooperation with the YPG, the Syrian department of the PKK, a delegated terror group within the US, Türkiye and the EU. The YPG is the principal group behind the SDF, the US’ chief companion in northeast Syria.
Source: www.anews.com.tr
