First step blocking F-16s to Turkey
US House Rules Committee votes to include amendment in National Defense Authorization Act
The US’ House Rules Committee has voted to include an amendment by Democrat Chris Pappas in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for the 2023 fiscal year, which would prohibit the sale of F-16 jets or modernization kits to Turkey unless certain conditions are met.
The amendment requires the American president to certify that “such a transfer is in the national interest of the United States” and requires “concrete steps taken to ensure that such F-16s are not used by Turkey for repeated unauthorized territorial overflights of Greece.”
The amendment, however, leaves open a window that allows the president to override the restrictions if he certifies to Congress that doing so is in the vital interest of US national security. In this case, the president should provide a detailed description of the specific measures taken to ensure that US weapons are not used for violations of the sovereignty of another NATO member.
Congressmen Pappas and Frank Pallone initially introduced two amendments to increase the likelihood that at least one would be approved. The two amendments were eventually combined into the one that was passed. The next stage will be to put it to the full House for approval, which is expected towards the end of the month.
In Athens on Wednesday, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias reiterated the government’s firm strategic choice to keep allies and partners up to speed about Turkey’s provocations.
Speaking at Parliament’s Standing Committee on National Defense and Foreign Affairs, Dendias said “we have made it clear that this behavior is not acceptable in any way.”
“It is useful to point this out to our partners so that there are no illusions,” he said, while also referring to a map presented at the weekend by Turkish junior coalition partner Devlet Bahceli, which shows the East Aegean islands and Crete as Turkish territories.
“Things which a few years ago, perhaps less than a few years ago, would have been considered colorful or unthinkable, are now part of the agenda of the neighboring country’s behavior,” he said.
Meanwhile, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Konstantinos Floros, visited the Lockheed Martin facility in the US and the production line for the fifth generation F-35 aircraft which Greece intends to purchase.
