National Defense Minister Yaşar Güler spoke by phone late Monday with his U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin on the stalled F-16 fighter jet deal and Sweden’s NATO membership, according to a statement by the Turkish Defense Ministry.
"Secretary Austin and Minister Güler lauded the long history of military cooperation between the United States and Türkiye and applauded our continued close cooperation," the U.S. Defense Department said in a separate statement.
"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 phone call came as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday agreed to send Sweden's NATO Accession Protocol to Parliament after a trilateral meeting with Stoltenberg and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson ahead 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 include the sale of 40 jets as well as modernization kits for 79 warplanes already in the Turkish Air Forces Command's inventory.
Although the Biden administration repeatedly said it wants to move forward with the sale of F-16 jets to Türkiye, key lawmakers on Capitol Hill have vowed to nix the deal over several demands, including making the purchase contingent on Ankara's approval of Sweden's NATO membership bid.
Turkish and U.S. officials have said that Sweden's NATO bid and the sale of the F-16 jets are not linked.
