With clear link – message Turkish leadershipwho insists on the provocative practice of overflights, the negotiations of the subcommittees of the American Congress finalize the text of the defense budget. With direct reference to Turkey and its practice, the Congress declares that one of its Member States NATO must not make unauthorized flights over another member state of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which refers to Greece. However, the final text of the defense budget does not include an amendment to ban the sale to Turkey. new F-16 fighters in upgrade kit of the ones he already has.

The House and Senate Defense Committees have completed a months-long round of negotiations to finalize the text. Last July, a committee of the House of Representatives passed one of the two proposed amendments, which concerned the introduction of restrictions on the sale of new F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, as well as the sale of upgrade kits for fighters already in the possession of the Turkish Air Force. Armed forces. MP Amendment Chris Pappas was the one that was passed by Parliament while it was preceded by a joint letter from the Greek American Council of Leaders and the American Jewish Committee asking American legislators to support the amendment. According to the letter, “Turkish violations of Greek airspace and armed overflights of the Aegean islands have reached a dangerous level, creating a real threat to peace and stability in the region.”

However, the final text does not include an amendment to ban the sale of new aircraft – “I will not approve if Erdogan does not stop,” Menendez says.

An explanatory defense budget text reached by the two committees late Tuesday evening said in the section on the F-16 handover and regarding the Pappas amendment that the House defense budget text included Amendment 1271, which would have prevented the President from selling or allowing the export of new F-16 aircraft. 16 or F-16 upgrade technologies or upgrade kits to Turkey or any agency or body in Turkey, unless certain certifications and recommendations are granted by the president. As already mentioned, there was no similar amendment in the text of the Senate. So, they conclude, there is no such provision in the final text. However, US lawmakers on both sides have finalized the text to include a clear statement that “we believe that NATO allies should not make unauthorized flights into the airspace of other NATO allies.”

The defense budget will be sent to the plenum for approval and then to the President of the United States for signature, which will become US state law.

Of course, the sale of US weapons systems must be approved by the relevant arms committee, chaired by Senator Bob Menendez, who has repeatedly spoken out against the sale of weapons to Turkey. In fact, Mr. Menendez tweeted yesterday that “I will not approve the F-16 for Turkey until Erdogan stops his abuses across the region…”.