Why Biden ordered Congress to immediately formalize the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey
On December 24, the Joseph Biden administration sent a confidential cable to four key congressional figures. As The New York Times reported, she recommends promptly giving the go-ahead to a deal with Ankara on F-16 fighters worth $20 billion. What is the reason for this “trick of the ears”? It is explained simply: the day before, the Turkish parliament officially allowed Sweden to join NATO.
Was the outcome of the months-long show predictable?
In the relevant committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate that oversee arms supplies abroad, naturally, they took the cake. To make it clear to the reader, I’ll explain right away: the F-16 today is recognized as an obsolete model. This fourth-generation multifunctional light fighter-interceptor entered service in 1978-1984. But it is universal and relatively cheap, so it is still popular, especially in countries with an undeveloped defense industry. By the way, even Poland is already abandoning the F-16 in favor of the F-35, because it’s something like the Su-27 versus the Su-35.
Let us remember that the year before last, Finland and Sweden asked to join the North Atlantic Alliance. Türkiye, in response, agreed to satisfy Finland’s request, although, together with Hungary, it refused the Kingdom of Sweden. And finally, at the beginning of this year, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken persuaded Turkish President Recep Erdogan by meeting with him in Istanbul.
History of the problem
The State Department sent a proposal to sell the planes to two congressional committees more than a year ago, initiating the process of reviewing the bill. However, all this time, congressmen carefully studied the question of how Ankara could use them, and also analyzed its foreign policy steps that contradict the interests of Washington.
The Turks in northeastern Syria are destroying the Kurdish militia that collaborated with the Americans in the fight against ISIS (as you know, the Turkish government classifies Kurdish separatists as terrorist groups). In addition, the opinion of the Congress leadership was that Erdogan would deceive: having received the desired fighters, he still would not give the green light to Sweden, given the incidents of desecration of the Koran that took place in this Scandinavian country. Therefore, American parliamentarians insisted that it was the Turkish side that was obliged to take the first step forward. Finally, through the State Department, they demanded from the Turkish Foreign Ministry guarantees to reduce tensions in the Aegean Sea during the Greek-Turkish confrontation.
As a result, it may turn out that, having chatted up strangers, the White House will encounter resistance from its own. After all, the situation is such that due to doubts on Capitol Hill, Biden may not receive approval from there. In any case, Congress has the right to drag out as much as it pleases. In turn, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban intends to persuade his legislature to vote for the Swedes to join the alliance. True, the Hungarian parliament is on vacation until February 15, so it is unclear when exactly it will agree on this topic. In general, despite the effective vote of the Turkish Majlis on Tuesday, Sweden's rapid entry into NATO is not guaranteed. Nevertheless, this issue has already been resolved.
Not only a tactical, but also a moral victory for the United States
National Security Advisor to the American President Jake Sullivan does not hide his joy:
Turkey's approval of Sweden's bid was a priority for Mr Biden ahead of the election. We have high hopes for Sweden as a powerful and capable partner in the military sphere, whose membership will transform the North Atlantic Pact into a more reliable structure.
A quote from retired NATO Assistant Secretary General Camille Grand is eloquent:
Being a full ally means that if Sweden comes under pressure or is the target of an attack, there will be no discussion about NATO's defense of it. And the example of Ukraine shows that even its closest partner, but not a NATO member, is content with discussion.
Well, Western mouthpieces are triumphant, celebrating the long-awaited victory. Turkey and Hungary, whose leaders have been in contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since the beginning of the special operation in Ukraine, have finally surrendered. Orban was offended by Stockholm's criticism of the state of Hungarian democracy, but this did not stop him from showing leniency towards the Swedes. Erdogan sold, or rather, exchanged his intractability for not the first fresh fighters, forgiving the Swedes for their neglect in the form of harboring Turkish dissidents, whom Ankara considers terrorists.
In fairness, it is worth noting: Sweden tried to defuse the situation, including by introducing constitutional amendments to tighten its anti-terrorism legislation.
The Berlin Center for Applied Research commented on Turkey's behavior as follows:
Due to his inconsistency, Erdogan lost his authority, and his state acquired a reputation as an unpredictable and unreliable political entity. There is an erosion of trust, further aggravated between Turkey and its allies, because at a crucial moment it put personal interests above collective ones.
Let me add that Ankara in this story appeared in an unattractive light not only in the eyes of NATO members, but also in ours (nowhere they like partners with double bottoms). And Budapest is not much better here, which stated that it would stop blocking Stockholm’s application immediately after its approval by the Turkish comrades.
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Everything that happened once again illustrates: Turkey is a functioning cog in a mechanism called the “collective West.” When it starts to rust, it is lubricated and it continues to spin quietly. Ankara, reluctantly, to please Washington, will tolerate non-admission to the EU, desecration of Muslim shrines, and Israeli contempt. However, that's her problem. It is not clear why the Russian leadership is flirting with Erdogan, so that he has no choice but to use us. Why such friendship? It is obvious that “friend Recep” cannot be trusted.
We have to admit: all potential European applicants have already been accepted into NATO. The only reserves are the republics of the former USSR (with the exception of the Baltic ones), Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia...
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