Greek-American Congressmen oppose upgrade of Turkish F-16s

Greek-American members of the U.S. House of Representatives have told Greek state TV ERT they oppose the upgrade of Turkish F-16 fighters requested by the Biden Administration.

Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD) told ERT correspondent Lena Argiri that “we are leading an effort in Congress to make sure all of our colleagues are aware of Turkey’s provocative behavior…There is an increasing sense this bad behavior cannot go unaddressed…we have to be very careful about any kind of transaction we undertake with Turkey”

Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) said that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ address to a Joint Session of Congress next Tuesday provides a “unique opportunity to explain why Congress should not approve (President Joe Biden’s) proposal to sell F-16(‘s) and tell the world that Turkey has shown great aggression in and around (the Eastern Mediterranean) and (the) Aegean and that they can pose a significant threat.”

Dina Titus (D-NV) said that by inviting Mitsotakis to address Congress “we send a clear message to Turkey ‘hey don’t mess with one of our friends.’

Finally, Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) said: “I want to make sure that we have Greece’s back…We have a responsibility and duty to protect Greece and Greece’s sovereignty…We will do everything that we possibly can to block the F-16 sale to Turkey.”