Cavusoglu slams Greek lobbying campaign against F-16 sale
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Tuesday accused Greece of mounting a lobbying campaign in the US Congress against the sale of F-16 fighter jets to his country, adding that Turkey will not procure the aircraft if conditions are imposed on their use.
In an interview with Haber Global TV, Cavusoglu said a Greek-American Congressman was behind efforts to block the sale of the Lockheed Martin-made planes, however stressing that Turkey would never agree to conditions “that could tie our hands.”
“Why should we buy a product that we can’t use? We’re expecting the US administration to continue to work to convince Congress for the sale,” he said.
Last month, Congress passed a bipartisan amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to stop the Biden administration from selling F-16s to Ankara and add Congressional oversight to make sure NATO-member Turkey does not use the warplanes to violate Greek sovereignty.
In the same interview, Cavusoglu reiterated Turkey’s call on Greece to demilitarize the eastern Aegean islands, while saying that a viable solution to lingering disputes with Greece and Cyprus depends on equitable revenue sharing in the Eastern Mediterranean.
