US congress members opposed to F-16 sale to Turkey

Greek-American Representatives Nicole Malliotakis from New York and Gus Bilirakis from Florida have said they remain opposed to sales of US F-16 fighter jets to Turkey.

The two MPs released a statement regarding President Biden’s meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan where he signaled support for the potential sale of U.S. F-16 fighter jets and modernization kits to Turkey.

“It’s shocking that President Biden would advocate for the sale of the U.S. F-16 fighter jets and modernization kits to Turkey after hearing concerns of Turkish aggression directly from Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during his visit to Washington last month," they note.

“During his visit, Prime Minister Mitsotakis discussed the repeated aggression and military flyovers being conducted over the Greek Islands at the instruction of Erdoğan and cautioned that any sale to Turkey would be used to continue bullying other smaller nations in the Eastern Mediterranean region, including Greece, Cyprus, and Israel”, they added.

The two Congress members pointed out that they will remain opposed to any attempt to make a sale, pointing out Greece's strong ties with the United States.

“As members of the Congressional Hellenic Caucus, we remain strongly opposed to any sale of U.S. military equipment to Turkey and will continue to express our concerns to our colleagues in the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.  The bond between Greece and the United States has only been strengthened over the last two centuries, and it’s incumbent upon Congress to stand together against aggression whether it comes from an adversary like Russia or a NATO ally like Turkey that continues to violate international law,” the house representatives said.