On Thursday, Turkish defence ministry sources said that Turkey and the US had signed an agreement to sell F-16 fighter jets after the U.S. gave approval for the $23 billion deal following months of negotiations.
“The contract was signed and delegations from both sides are negotiating the details,” the officials in charge at the ministry said.
According to this agreement, Turkey will acquire 40 new F-16s and modernization of its existing fleet of 79 planes.
Last week The State Department has described it as “a major step forward” in Turkey’s acquisition of new F-16 fighters calling them “the most advanced F-16 ever made available only to closest Allies and partners.”
“In one more example of US everlasting commitment to security partnership with Turkey,” a social media post read.
The State Department notified Congress in January about this deal, which was required by law, along with another sale worth $8.6 billion for 40 Greek f-35s.
Turkey’s instruments ratifying Sweden’s membership only arrived in Washington yesterday before America green lighted their purchase of these weapons.
A year long delay during which Western efforts towards Russian aggression against Ukraine were disrupted ended when Turkey endorsed Sweden’s NATO membership in January.
Next month Erdogan will take part in NATO leaders’ summit being held at Washington DC.
However, his first meeting with Joe Biden at White House had been postponed due to scheduling problems last month.