US to block F-16 sale to Turkey if it doesn’t stop illegal flights over Greek islands

The amendment that obliges US President Joe Biden to ensure that Turkey stops overflights over the Greek islands in order to be entitled to buy American F-16 fighter jets was accepted last night by the Rules Committee of the United States House of Representatives.

Also, the American president must ensure that, in the event that Turkey is finally able to purchase the F-16s, they will not be used against Greece.

According to Hellas Journal, MPs Chris Pappas and Frank Pallone tabled two amendments. After negotiations, the two amendments were merged into one. The Greek-American Lobby seems very satisfied.

The next parliamentary stage is its approval by the plenary session of the Parliament, which is estimated to take place by the end of July.

The amendment, which will be included in the budget of the US Department of Defense, states the the transfer is in the national interest of the United States.

This includes a detailed description of the specific actions taken to ensure that such F-16s are not used by Turkey for repeated unauthorized overflights of Greece.

The amendment prohibits the sale of new F16s, modernisation kits and upgraded technology to Turkey and any entity associated with Turkey unless the US President can certify to appropriate congressional committees that there are national security reasons and provide a detailed description of the of measures taken to ensure that F16s are not used for overflights over Greece.

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