Turkish National Defense Minister Yaşar Güler spoke by telephone late Monday along with his U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin on “shared bilateral and multilateral defense goals,” in accordance with an announcement by the U.S. Defense Department.
“Secretary Austin and Minister Güler lauded the long history of military cooperation between the United States and Türkiye and applauded our continued close cooperation,” mentioned the readout of the telephone name.
“They also discussed the positive talks between Türkiye, Sweden and NATO Secretary General (Jens) Stoltenberg, as well as the Department of Defense’s support for Türkiye’s military modernization,” it added.
The telephone name got here as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday agreed to ship Sweden’s NATO Accession Protocol to parliament after a trilateral assembly with Stoltenberg and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson forward of the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Ankara requested F-16 fighter jets and modernization kits from the U.S. in October 2021. The $6 billion deal would come with the sale of 40 jets in addition to modernization kits for 79 warplanes already within the Turkish Air Force’s stock.
Although the Biden administration repeatedly mentioned it needs to maneuver ahead with the sale of F-16 jets to Türkiye, 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 Sweden’s NATO membership bid.
Turkish and U.S. officers have mentioned that Sweden’s NATO bid and the sale of the F-16 jets will not be linked.
Source: www.anews.com.tr
