ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th July, 2022) The chairman of the Turkish Patriotic Party (Vatan), which is not represented in the Turkish parliament, Dogu Perincek, on Monday urged the country's authorities to revoke the request for the purchase of US F-16 fighter jets.
On Thursday, the US House of Representatives passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act constraining the impending transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. The amendment requires assurances on behalf of the US president that the aircraft will not be used for unauthorized territorial overflights in Greece.
"The persistence in buying F-16s from the US/NATO, which is threatening our country, runs counter to our national pride and interests. The policy 'you did not give us our F-35s, at least sell us the F-16s' has failed. No one has the right to put our state in this position," Perincek was quoted as saying by Turkish newspaper Aydınlık.
He also noted that it is NATO that poses a threat to Turkey from Greece, the eastern Mediterranean, Syria and northern Iraq, therefore no threat from Ankara should have been expected.
"Isn't it obvious that we cannot use the weapons we obtained from them? The request for F-16s should be withdrawn, with our needs to be met at the expense of our true friends in Asia until a national combat aircraft is completed," Perincek added.
In 2019, the United States suspended Turkey's participation in its F-35 program over Ankara's purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system and later completely removed it from the project. Last year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the US suggested that Turkey procure the fourth generation of the F-16 fighter jets instead of the fifth generation F-35s.
The US Congress has yet to approve the F-16 deal, with the situation being complicated by reports that Greece is exerting pressure on the US so that Washington does not sell upgraded F-16 combat aircraft to Turkey, citing its own security concerns.
