Various issues were discussed in a phone call between United States President Joe Biden and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. The purpose of this call was to discuss some issues like the potential purchase of F-16 fighter jets of the United States by Turkey.
F-16 Deal and Diplomacy
Biden showed his interest and willingness to work out a deal of F-16 fighter jets but on the other hand, he emphasized what is the importance of Turkey dropping its objection to Sweden’s NATO accession.
Turkish President, Erdogan won the recent presidential election. So, during the phone call, President Biden congratulated him for that. Biden held a conference in which he said that he has talked to Turkey’s president about F16s and mentioned to him that the United States is interested in resolving the matter with Sweden. He added that further conversation between the two presidents will be done in the coming week.
Turkey’s F-16 Purchase Challenges
The statement of Turkey’s President was brief. He mentioned that leaders are agreeing on enhancing cooperation on all aspects of their bilateral ties.
Turkey’s President has shown interest in about $20 billion worth of F-16s which he wants to purchase for his country’s safety. He said he is willing to purchase F-16s from the United States. But unfortunately, in the US Congress, the sales of F-16s have faced some obstacles. Biden did support Erdogan in this regard but still, the deal has not progressed swiftly.
The relationship between Biden and Erdogan has always been vague but before Biden, the former ex-president of the United States, Donald Trump was more favorable towards Erdogan and other autocratic leaders.
