Really? Turkiye’s Approving Sweden’s NATO Membership Not Connected To F-16 Sales? Coincidence Secretary Of State Blinken Spoke With Sweden Foreign Minister- Day Before Arriving To Istanbul
Really? Turkiye’s Approving Sweden’s NATO Membership Not Connected To F-16 Sales?
Guess U.S. Secretary Of State Blinken Misdialed When Coincidently He Spoke Today With Minister Of Foreign Affairs Of Sweden- Day Before Arriving To Istanbul.
Why Won’t Biden Administration Just Be Honest With Turkiye About F-16 Purchases And F-16 Upgrades?
President Erdogan Is Correct To Be Frustrated With Lack Of Clarity.
The Purchases, The Upgrades Are Directly Linked To Sweden’s Ascension To Membership In NATO. There Is A Quid Quo Pro.
Problem Is United States Congress Will Not Approve Now Regardless Of Turkiye Approving Sweden.
President Biden Will Need To Bypass United States Congress Using AECA. But, Will He Require Turkiye To Do More? Less Support To Russian Federation, More Support To Ukraine, Lessen Criticism Of State Of Israel?
Nearly Every Official Statement From The White House, Department Of State, And Department Of Defense Which Mentions The F-16 Aircraft Transaction Includes A Mention Of The Ascension Of Sweden Into NATO.
Will U.S. Secretary Of State Meet With President Erdogan During This Visit To Turkiye?
United States Department of State
Washington DC
4 January 2024
Matthew Miller, Department Spokesperson
Secretary Antony J. Blinken will travel to Istanbul, Türkiye; Crete, Greece; Amman, Jordan; Doha, Qatar; Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates; Al ‘Ula, Saudi Arabia; Tel Aviv, Israel; the West Bank; and Cairo, Egypt from January 4-11, 2024.
Throughout his trip, the Secretary will underscore the importance of protecting civilian lives in Israel and the West Bank and Gaza; securing the release of all remaining hostages; our shared commitment to facilitating the increased, sustained delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza and the resumption of essential services; and ensuring that Palestinians are not forcibly displaced from Gaza. He will also discuss urgent mechanisms to stem violence, calm rhetoric, and reduce regional tensions, including deterring Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and avoiding escalation in Lebanon. The Secretary will reaffirm the U.S. commitment to working with partners to set the conditions necessary for peace in the Middle East, which includes comprehensive, tangible steps toward the realization of a future Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel, with both living in peace and security.
United States Department of State
Washington DC
4 January 2024
MR MILLER: Good afternoon. I will start with some opening comments.
Later today, Secretary Blinken will depart for his fourth trip to the Middle East since the terrorist attacks of October 7th, as well as to stops in Europe. Over the course of the next week, the Secretary will visit Türkiye, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank, and Egypt for meetings with foreign counterparts and others. The Secretary will focus on a number of critical issues on this trip.
First, he will discuss immediate measures to increase substantially humanitarian assistance to Gaza. The United States has played a critical role in unlocking humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people, but conditions remain extremely difficult. The Secretary will stress the imperative of expanding and sustaining safe access for humanitarian organizations to deliver food, water, medicine, as well as for commercial goods to enter all areas of Gaza.
Second, he will discuss with the Government of Israel its ongoing military campaign against Hamas to ensure October 7th cannot be repeated, including plans to transition to the next phase of operations, and how to – the steps Israel can take to better protect civilians, and how to enable Palestinians to return to their homes and neighborhoods as fighting curtails. He will also stress to the Government of Israel the need to do more to lower tensions in the West Bank.
Third, he will discuss ongoing efforts to bring home the remaining hostages, including the American citizens who are still unaccounted for. The Secretary has no higher priority than the safety and security of American citizens, and he will not rest as long as Americans – along with Israelis and citizens of many other countries – continue to be held captive.
Fourth, he will focus on, as he has consistently since October 7th, preventing the conflict from expanding. He will discuss specific steps parties can take, including how they can use their influence with others in the region, to avoid escalation. It is in no one’s interest – not Israel’s, not the region’s, not the world’s – for this conflict to spread beyond Gaza. As part of those discussions, he will raise the need to take steps to deter the Houthis’ attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
Finally, he will emphasize the responsibility of all parties to help chart a path forward for Gaza that achieves lasting security for both Israelis and Palestinians – as well as a more peaceful, integrated region – building on the principles he laid out in Tokyo on November 8th, and including a sustained mechanism for reconstruction and Palestinian-led governance of a unified West Bank and Gaza.
The Secretary also looks forward to discussing with his Turkish counterparts our many areas of bilateral and regional cooperation, including the final steps to complete Türkiye’s ratification of Sweden’s accession to NATO, and to conversations with the Government of Greece about their support for Ukraine and safeguarding regional maritime security.
We don’t expect every conversation on this trip to be easy. There are obviously tough issues facing the region and difficult choices ahead. But the Secretary believes it is the responsibility of the United States of America to lead diplomatic efforts to tackle those challenges head on, and he is prepared to do that in the days to come.
United States Department of State
Washington DC
4 January 2024
Secretary Blinken’s Call with Swedish Foreign Minister Billström
The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller: Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström. Secretary Blinken welcomed the signing of the U.S.-Sweden Defense Cooperation Agreement in December. The Secretary reaffirmed strong U.S. support for ratification of Sweden’s accession to NATO without further delay, noting the accession of Sweden to NATO will benefit all Allies.
United States Department of State
Washington DC
4 January 2024
Matthew Miller, Department Spokesperson
QUESTION: Sure. Could I just ask something completely unrelated? Back on the trip, do you have anything to say about why he’s visiting Greece? I mean, obviously this is right after Türkiye and obviously there’s a relationship there. Is it about the F-16 issue specifically, or is it more broadly – more —
MR MILLER: So as I said in my opening comments, he’s – Greece is an important NATO Ally and he’s looking forward to visit there to talk about Greece’s support for Ukraine, which has been longstanding, really since the outset of the conflict, safeguarding regional maritime security, and there will be other issues that we’ll talk about as well that I’m sure we’ll read out afterwards.
United States Department of State
Washington DC
3 January 2024
Matthew Miller, Department Spokesperson
QUESTION: Can you provide us an update on the process regarding the sale of F-16s to Türkiye? As you might have followed, Turkish parliament’s —
MR MILLER: I did follow it.
QUESTION: — foreign affairs commission approved Sweden’s NATO bid and sent it to the floor for the full vote. Is the State Department planning to send a formal notification to the Congress soon?
MR MILLER: Let me say it this way. We certainly welcome the vote, and I believe it was a committee, to advance Sweden’s accession to the full parliament. We look forward to a final vote and seeing Sweden’s accession ratified. We have made clear that we do not believe the sale of F-16 modernization kits to Türkiye should be linked with NATO’s – with Sweden’s NATO accession, but there are members of Congress who have a different opinion and they have linked the two.
So I don’t want to comment about when we will be prepared to move forward. We have had obstacles in Congress because of the actions that Türkiye has taken that we have had to navigate and work through. We have been trying to work through those as diligently as possible. But I will say that I think the best thing that could happen to lead to progress on both of – on this issue would be for Türkiye to take action as soon as possible to ratify Sweden’s NATO accession.
QUESTION: We know that State Department and Secretary has been engaging with the Congress on this matter. Do you have anything to share with us on these talks? Any progress on these talks with congressmembers?
MR MILLER: Nothing other – nothing beyond what I just said in my previous comments.
Go ahead.
The White House
Washington DC
29 May 2023
Remarks Before Marine One Departure
THE PRESIDENT: ... I spoke to Erdoğan and congratulated Erdoğan. And he -- he still wants to work on something on the F-16s. I told him we wanted a deal with Sweden, so let’s get that done. And so we'll be back in touch with one another. But I -- it was basically a congratulatory call.
QUESTION: Are you expecting any movement on Sweden’s membership in NATO on Erdoğan’s part?
THE PRESIDENT: I raised that issue with him. We’re going to talk more about it next week.
United States Department of State
Washington DC
11 September
Matthew Miller, Department Spokesperson
QUESTION: On Türkiye, I was wondering if you have any updates on the sale of F-16s to Türkiye. Is there any timeline for when the State Department intends to proceed with this sale? And also, you and other U.S. officials have repeatedly said the F-16 issue and Sweden’s NATO accession were not linked, but yesterday, Turkish President Erdogan, after having a brief chat with Biden on the sidelines of the G20, said that the U.S. makes such a connection and it could upset Ankara. How do you explain that? Are you in the same – still in the same position of not linking those two separate issues?
MR MILLER: So two things. One, I don’t have an update on the timing. But with respect to whether they are linked, we do not believe that they are linked or should be linked, but as we have said before and as we have made clear to the Turkish Government, of course, the sale of F-16s is something that has to be approved by the United States Congress. And there are members of Congress who believe that the two issues are closely tied together, so while we do not believe that they are linked, we’re not the only actor in this process. We’ve made that clear directly to Turkish officials.
“I had a quick word with Mr. Biden. We also discussed the F16 issue. Unfortunately, friends keep bringing Sweden up when it comes to the F-16 issue. Such an approach seriously upsets us. When they so, I have a response. You say you have a Congress to consider, I have my own Congress, which is the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye. Unless the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye passes it, I cannot alone ratify it. I am not at a point where I can reach a decision on my own. My National Assembly needs to pass it. Sweden has to fulfill its responsibilities. Unless it fulfills its responsibilities, I have to wait for my National Assembly’s decision.” Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of the Republic of Turkiye (2014- ) at the 2023 G20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi, India.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO): United States, United Kingdom, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Albania, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, Romania, Germany, Slovakia, Greece, Slovenia, Hungary, Spain, Turkiye, Latvia, and North Macedonia. The Kingdom of Sweden awaits approval from the governments of the Republic of Hungary and the Republic of Turkiye.
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