Democratic and Republican Congressmen, including Greek-Americans Gus Bilirakis, Chris Papas, John Sarbanes, Nicole Malliotaki as well as Philhellene Caroline Maloney joined forces and co-signed the letter as they said they will take whatever action is necessary as members of Congress to prevent the sale of the F-16, noting that if it is approved it will strengthen Erdogan's destabilizing actions.
"We strongly call for the rejection of this sale because it will reward President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for ignoring Turkey's commitments as an ally to the United States and NATO and the massive human rights violations his regime continues to commit at home and abroad," the MPs said.
Erdogan, they add, "consistently"chooses to prioritize divisive tactics for personal gain over the collective good of his allies.
"His choice to block Finland and Sweden from joining NATO until he receives irrational and irrelevant concessions makes it clear that he has done little to strengthen NATO's strategic posture since Russia's invasion of Ukraine sparked the biggest crisis the alliance has faced in decades," they note.
Elsewhere in their letter to the US President, the MPs note:
"The sale of US advanced fighter jets to Turkey will not incentivise Erdogan to suddenly turn himself into a good ally. Most likely, these weapons will lead to more deaths and destruction in the region."
Turkey, they say, "also continues to use S-400 missile defense systems, which potentially expose to Russia important tactical information about U.S. weapons and military operations."
[BR][BR]In closing, they stress that the U.S. should not provide further support to Turkey's military until meaningful steps are taken to stop its destabilizing actions and violations of international law at home and abroad.
Source: KYPE
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