Over 50 US Congress Members Call to Halt F-16 Sales to Turkey

A bipartisan group of more than 50 US Congress members has joined forces with the co-chairs of the Congressional Armenian Caucus, Frank Pallone and Gus Bilirakis, to demand the blocking of sales of fourth-generation F-16 fighter jets and modernization equipment to Turkey from the US Department of State and the Department of Defense. This was reported by the Armenian National Committee of America.

In a letter addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on February 4, the Congress members stated: "We strongly urge the rejection of Turkey's request for new F-16s and modernization equipment, and to take immediate measures to hold Erdogan's regime accountable. The United States should not provide any further support to the Turkish armed forces until President Erdogan takes tangible steps to cease its destabilizing actions and violations of international law both domestically and abroad."

The letter emphasized that precedent shows Erdogan will not change his behavior as long as the US does not utilize all its diplomatic tools, including targeted economic sanctions.

The letter has been signed by Congress members Jake Auchincloss, Tony Cárdenas, Judy Chu, David Cicilline, Jim Costa, among others.