The position that the United States does not want American defense systems to be used in matters where there are disagreements between NATO allies was expressed by the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken.

During a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, Democratic Rep. David Cicilini raised the issue of the Navy’s violation of Greek sovereignty. F-16s that Turkey already has. According to him, Ankara does not want to give assurances that the upgraded fighters will not be used to violate Greek airspace.

Given that these actions undermine NATO unity, a US MP asked Anthony Blinken what steps the administration has taken to ensure that US weapons are not used to threaten key US allies and partners, such as in the case of Greece, Cyprus and northern Syria. .

For his part, Mr. Blinken reaffirmed the administration’s long-standing stance that it supports the modernization and sale of new fighter jets to Turkey to ensure interoperability within the NATO alliance. However, he was quick to make it clear that the government wants the equipment not to be used to stir up divisions within the alliance.

As he pointed out, “at the core of our efforts – whether with Turkey or Greece or any other NATO ally – is to ensure that they have the equipment and technology they need to be fully interoperable with NATO, so they can do what they want as NATO allies. At the same time, of course, we (want) to ensure that in the event of disputes between them, any equipment or technology that we provide is not used to continue those disputes. We believe that Turkey should receive upgraded F-16s and upgrade packages. We believe that this is important for NATO, important for the alliance. At the same time, we are working hard to ensure that any tensions that exist between NATO allies, in this case Greece and Turkey, are removed and that they do not engage in actions or rhetoric that will reignite the situation.”

Menendez on Turkey: ‘She doesn’t deserve an F-16’

It is recalled that Democratic Senator Bob Menendez issued a new harsh criticism of Turkey, addressing a number of questions to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and stating that he does not believe that the sale of the F-16 to Ankara should take place.

In particular, the senator referred, in particular, to Turkey’s violations of the airspace and territorial waters of Greece, the Cyprus issue, the purchase of Russian military equipment from Ankara, as well as its non-participation in sanctions against Moscow, in the context of the war in Ukraine.

^{Source: RES-IPE}