Congress will block a major weapons deal and could levy new sanctions on Turkey if the country follows through on threats to block Sweden from joining NATO, according to Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).
“There’s no scenario where the F-16 sale goes through without ratification by Turkey [of Sweden and Finland’s NATO bids],” Van Hollen said at an Al-Monitor event in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday.
Citing Turkey’s unwillingness to levy sanctions against Russia and its threats to invade northeast Syria, the lawmaker said Ankara is “for the most part not a faithful ally.”
The news comes as the Biden administration is preparing to notify Congress of its intent to conclude a $20 billion deal to supply Turkey with F-16 fighter jets. The controversial sale has become more complicated since last week, when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged to block Sweden from entering NATO after a protestor in Stockholm burned a Quran.
Once they receive notification, lawmakers will have a month to pass a resolution of disapproval in order to block the sale. Van Hollen predicted that President Joe Biden would not attempt to veto such a bill if Congress took a stand against the deal. Läs artikel