Türkiye is unlikely to adopt the conditions being prepared by the foreign relations committees of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Ankara, a Turkish lawmaker said Wednesday.
"On the sale of F-16 fighter jets, there have been efforts to lay down conditions that Türkiye is unlikely to embrace, particularly in the work of the foreign relations committees of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives," Akif Çağatay Kılıç, the head of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Turkish Parliament.
"We openly stated that this is behavior that doesn't comply with international politics and the spirit of alliance," said Kılıç.
A Turkish delegation led by Efkan Ala, Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputy chair in charge of foreign affairs, paid a visit to Washington recently for talks with U.S. officials on F-16 fighter jets and modernization kits sales to Türkiye.
Kılıç was also part of the delegation, along with Osman Aşkın Bak, who heads the Turkish delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and deputies Volkan Bozkır and Mehdi Eker.
Some figures in Congress, such as Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, who serves as chairperson of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, have been trying to stop the sales, said Kılıç, adding: "But, I don't think (their efforts) will pay off."
"Congressional approval is required before reaching certain deals and purchases. In this context, we were there as a delegation to explain the issue firsthand and make direct contacts," he added.
Kılıç said the delegation's second visit to the U.S. was also productive and that the delegation met with members of Congress.
The delegation discussed regional and international issues, particularly F-16 fighter jet sales, while also making contacts as representatives of an active NATO ally and the alliance's second-largest military, he noted.
Many issues raised by the Turkish delegation were accepted by U.S. officials, Kılıç stressed.
Despite the differences of opinion on some issues, Kılıç underlined that both sides agreed that Türkiye "should be seriously supported as a NATO ally" and is "currently the strongest country in the region."
During the talks, they also touched on the Black Sea grain corridor that opened thanks to Türkiye's efforts to eliminate the risk of a food crisis due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, as well as a recent prisoner swap deal between Moscow and Kyiv, realized as a result of diplomatic engagements of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Kılıç said.
Greece's arming of eastern Aegean islands, in violation of their demilitarized status, was also on the agenda during the talks, he added.
"We've stated openly that the U.S. provided some equipment in this sense, and Greece used them in the wrong places, contrary to international law, in violation of many international agreements."
Kılıç also condemned recent derogatory remarks by German lawmaker Wolfgang Kubicki against Türkiye's president, saying that Ankara had conveyed that he should resign from his position as vice-speaker of Germany's Federal Parliament.
"His words toward our president cannot be accepted diplomatically, either," Kılıç said.
