Kalın: USA should find a way to sell F-16’s to Turkey

Recalling that he held talks in the U.S. with a number of congressmen as well as administration officials in mid-March, Kalın said “I told them ‘If you put a condition with [regard to the membership of] Sweden and Finland, it would be an illogical mistake.’ Distinguish these issues from each other.” Pressuring Turkey over the NATO expansion is wrong and can trigger a counter move from Turkey, Kalın said. “They remain without an answer when I ask them ‘What will you do if we tell you that we won’t approve Sweden’s bid until you give your consent to the sale of F-16s to Turkey?’ Don’t put pressure on Turkey. That won’t work.” ‘Turkey has options’ Turkey has other ways to find alternatives if the U.S. does not provide these warplanes, Kalın said, “Of course we endorse this [F-16] program. But we are not in a mood that we will face weakness if this sale is not accomplished. We are not in a panic. We are assessing other alternatives as well.” Turkey is building its own military equipment, including drones, like the Kızılelma (red apple) with similar qualifications to the F-16s, Kalın stressed, “All depends on the move of the U.S.” Swedish accession to NATO On a question, Kalın confirmed that Finland no longer has problems in terms of entering NATO as the approval process has already been launched. “The doors for Sweden are not closed but the pace of the process and how it is going to be accomplished depends on the steps to be taken by Sweden. The new government [in Sweden] is sincere and exerting efforts to this end,” he said. The new anti-terror legislation will enter into force by June 1, Kalın stressed. Sweden is hoping to join the alliance before the July 11-12 summit of the NATO leaders in Lithuania.