MSB statement on F-16s and Syria: 'We view Biden's letter as a positive step'

Ministry of National Defense sources responded to questions from members of the press regarding US President Joe Biden's approval of the F-16 sale to Turkey.

Regarding the recommendation letter sent by Biden to Congress for the approval of the sale, the sources stated the following:

“Regarding the F-16 procurement, as part of our Air Force Command's urgent operational needs, the Letters of Request (LOR) for the procurement of 40 F-16 Block-70s and the Viper modernization for 79 aircraft were first submitted to the US Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC-T) on September 30, 2021. Currently, we are waiting for the official congressional approval process for the letters of offer and acceptance for both projects to be initiated by the US. We view the sending of a recommendation letter by US President Biden to Congress for the approval of the sale as a positive step. What needs to be done now is for the relevant request to be sent to Congress and for the official process to be initiated through Congress. We once again express our expectation that the process will conclude positively.”

STATUS OF CONTRACTED PRIVATES

In response to a question regarding the salaries of contracted privates, Ministry sources said:

“Contracted privates are our personnel employed to perform professional duties. Contracted private service covers a duty limited to 7 years. With the latest raises, the lowest contracted private salary starts at 34 thousand 217 TL. Depending on the place of duty and rank, it goes up to 53 thousand 957 TL. Contracted privates who leave their duties for various reasons are also paid compensation based on the duration of their service. Those who leave in their first year of service are paid 97 thousand 628 TL, while those who leave at the end of their seventh year of service are paid 966 thousand 375 TL in compensation. Furthermore, we are in coordination with the Ministry of Labor and Social Security to ensure that qualified personnel who leave their duties for various reasons can be re-employed in the public sector.”

Ministry of National Defense sources, in response to a question about whether new unmanned naval vehicles will soon be included in the Naval Forces Command's inventory, said:

“With the leadership and encouragement of our President, the capabilities and means of our Turkish Armed Forces are increasing day by day through domestically and nationally developed defense industry weapon systems. In this context, our Naval Forces continue to protect our rights and interests in the Blue Homeland by adding strength to their power with new platforms and capabilities acquired every day. We want to achieve the same success in the seas that the Turkish Armed Forces have achieved in the air with UAVs/SİHAs. Our work continues on concept studies for the effective use of unmanned naval vehicles and on incorporating unmanned naval vehicles with different capabilities into the inventory.”

NATO EXERCISE

Regarding a question about the "Steadfast Defender-24" exercise, known as the largest exercise NATO will conduct, Ministry sources said: “The purpose of the exercise is to conduct joint training for collective defense, to test the deployment and combat capabilities of allied troops, and to ensure cooperation and coordination in the execution of joint operations. The exercise in question consists of two phases and many sub-exercises between January 22 and May 31, 2024. The first phase (Atlantic/Norway) will be carried out between February 11 and March 14, with the aim of ensuring the strategic transfer of allied forces to Europe, as well as force protection and damage control. The second phase (Eastern Europe) will be conducted between February 12 and May 31 as an alarm and deployment exercise for the NATO Response Force (NRF) Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) with movement within Europe. Turkey will participate in some parts of the second phase of this exercise. It is planned that personnel from our Land Forces Command and Special Forces Command will participate. In addition to 31 NATO allies, Sweden, Ukraine, Japan, and Australia are also planned to participate in the exercise. Sweden has already been participating in many exercises for many years as a NATO partner country. They will also participate in this exercise as a partner country.”

CLAIMS THAT THE US WILL WITHDRAW FROM SYRIA

Ministry of National Defense sources, regarding claims that the US will withdraw its military units from Syria, replied: “We need to wait for official statements on this matter. One should approach such news with caution until seeing the official statement and implementation. We are closely following every development in our region regarding defense and security issues.”