Biden thanks Erdogan for lifting veto at NATO summit
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday praised his Turkish counterpart for his efforts in agreeing to Finland and Sweden’s accession to NATO during an Alliance summit in Madrid.
“I want to particularly thank you for what you did,” Biden said before a meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The three nations signed a deal under which Ankara lifted its block on Finnish and Swedish membership, while the candidates pledged not to support the Kurdish militant PKK and YPG groups, or the network of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, which Turkey blames for a failed 2016 coup attempt.
The agreement came a day before the Biden administration threw its support behind the potential sale of US F-16 fighter jets to Turkey.
US officials pushed back against any suggestion that Washington was backing the warplane request to remove Turkish objections to the entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO.
“The US did not offer anything to Turkey and was not asked for anything by Turkey” as part of its agreement with Finland and Sweden, a senior administration official said.
The official said US officials were engaged in ongoing technical talks about Turkey’s request to buy US F-16 fighter jets. Congress would have the final say about any such sales.
Erdogan, before departing for Madrid on Tuesday but after a phone call with Biden, had criticized the United States over the F-16 sale, saying it was stalling Ankara.
In his brief remarks before his meeting with Biden, Erdogan did not bring up the F-16 issue but expressed his pleasure to meet Biden “after a long while.” Their meeting lasted about an hour.
The two leaders had last met in person in October 2021 and spoke on the phone earlier this year.
The sale of US weapons to NATO ally Turkey became contentious after Ankara acquired Russian-made defense missile systems, triggering US sanctions as well as Turkey’s removal from the F-35 fighter jet program. [Reuters]
