On Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that any potential progress made by the United States on the F-16 deal with Ankara would be reflected in the Turkish parliament's consideration of Sweden's NATO accession protocol.
The US Department of State may officially notify Congress of the deal's progress on the same day when the Turkish parliament ratifies Sweden's accession to the military alliance, the report said. However, the US Congress will have another 30 days to block the process of the F-16 deal.
In April 2021, the US excluded Turkiye from the F-35 program after Ankara purchased Russia's S-400 air defense systems. Erdogan said later that year that Washington had offered that Ankara buy F-16 jets instead, one generation behind the F-35s. However, the deal needs approval from the US Congress, with many lawmakers strongly opposing the initiative, in particular, due to Turkiye's stance on Sweden's NATO bid. In July 2022, the US House of Representatives adopted a defense budget amendment that prohibits the sale of F-16s to Turkiye as long as the country violates Greek airspace.
Sweden, along with Finland, submitted its NATO application in May 2022, several months after Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine. Finland became a member of the alliance in April 2023. Sweden's application is still pending ratification by Turkiye and Hungary.