Key Lawmaker Backs F-16 Sale to Turkey

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin, D-Md., said Jan. 26 that he will approve granting the request from Turkey to the U.S. for the purchase of F-16 fighter jets, following that country’s approval of Sweden’s accession to NATO.

Turkey dropped its opposition to Sweden’s NATO bid after the two countries resolved a dispute over a Kurdish separatist movement in Turkey.

Cardin’s announcement came the same day the State Department formally notified Congress that it has approved Turkey’s request to buy 40 new F-16s and modernize 79 existing ones for a total of $23 billion. The principal contractor for the sale will be Lockheed Martin.