"Talks on the acquisition of the F-16s continue. (…) We
have a meeting on August 15: we were invited to the United States," Hulusi
Akar said during a conference in Ankara without specifying who made the
invitation.
He added, however, that he continues to reject the
conditions set by the US Congress for selling these aircraft to Turkiye. US lawmakers
asked Turkiye to refrain from military action against Greece and supported
Greek claims about the airspace. "We cannot accept these conditions. We
hope they will be removed from the Senate," Akar added.
Turkiye wants to acquire 40 F-16 Block 70 fighter planes and
spare parts necessary for the maintenance and modernization of the F-16s it
already has.
US President Joe Biden supported delivering F-16s
to Turke during his meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan
on the sidelines of the NATO summit in June in Madrid.
"Mr Biden's approach was very positive in Madrid,"
Akar recalled.
