Turkish, American defense teams meet to discuss F-16 sale and regional issues

The delegations from the defense ministries of Türkiye and the United States held a meeting in the Turkish capital on Nov. 7 as negotiations for the sale of the F-16 fighter jets between the two allies continue.

In a visit to the Turkish Air Forces on Nov. 7, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced that the Turkish-American High-Level Defense Group met in Ankara to discuss the current bilateral issues as well as the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.

The high-level defense group covers both bilateral matters, defense industry cooperation and regional and global security environment.

Türkiye had requested to buy 40 new F-16s and 79 modernization kits for its existing fleets from the U.S. in late 2021. The technical talks have been going on through 2022 in a positive way as Washington exposed that it supports the procurement of the warfighters to Türkiye.

The sale should be approved by the U.S. Congress with expectations that the process will be concluded in one or two months.

Akar also gave information about the ongoing grain initiative that allows the export of Ukraine’s grain to the world markets. Recalling that Russia’s decision to suspend the initiative could be overcome thanks to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s intense diplomacy, Akar said 431 ships have carried more than 10 million tons of grain through the Black Sea.

Stressing that the continuation of the grain initiative will be very important for future peace talks, the Turkish minister said, “Now we have intensified our efforts for the extension of grain initiative which will expire on Nov. 19 in the framework our president has drawn. Our efforts do continue to this end.”

Akar underlined that the grain initiative sets a good example for the two parties to come to an agreement through negotiations, saying, “Our genuine wish to end the conflict between two our neighboring states by using the same model.”