Are You Sure the US Isn't Deceiving Us Again?

We granted Sweden's NATO membership, and we snatched the F-16s. That is the perception created in our country.

However, before the ink had even dried on Erdoğan's wet signature for the approval of Sweden's NATO membership—which was sent to Washington via a special courier—the Greek press claimed that a condition had been imposed stating that the F-16s to be sold to Turkey would not fly over Greek islands and could only be used in line with NATO alliance objectives, and that this had been communicated to the relevant committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate via a secret letter from the US Department of State.

The first to deny the claim in question was the Ministry of National Defense. Sources from the Ministry of National Defense stated, “The issue of F-16 procurement and modernization is not subject to any conditions.”

Following the Ministry of National Defense, the Presidency's Directorate of Communications Center for Combating Disinformation also categorically denied this claim.

Finally, speaking to A Haber five days ago, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan, when asked, “Will there be any trouble in Congress regarding the F-16s, will there be any problems? There is the well-known Jewish, Armenian, and Greek lobby,” said the following:

“When we look at it technically, when we look at the history of the event, normally the US administration does not send these without reaching an agreement with Congress, without making a pre-agreement. If this were possible, they would have sent them by now. Congress had certain sensitivities and conditions. We had a pre-agreement that there would be a step taken in return for Sweden's membership.”

What is understood from these complex statements is that the US administration convinced Congress with Sweden's NATO membership.

So, as alleged, did the US Department of State send a secret letter to the House of Representatives and the Senate? Or what exactly was in the letter that Secretary Antony Blinken wrote to Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis? Or, while US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland was coming to our country, do we know what the US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Joshua Huck, who went to Athens, discussed with Greek Deputy Minister of National Defense Ioannis Kefalogiannis? These are all unknown!..

WHAT WERE CONGRESS'S CONDITIONS?

Since Minister Hakan Fidan also says, “Congress had certain sensitivities and conditions,” let us briefly recall what these were.

Bob Menendez, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who was known as “anti-Turkey” but had to leave his post due to corruption charges, had set conditions beyond Sweden's NATO membership, such as “Ankara stopping its aggressive stance toward Athens, ending the support it gives to Azerbaijan against Armenia, and releasing journalists and dissidents.”

The new Chairman who replaced Menendez, Ben Cardin, was a figure who had worked for the recognition of the Armenian genocide slander in the past, defended Greek theses in Cyprus, “wanted religious freedom for the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople,” and called on the US Department of State following the Peace Spring Operation in October 2019 to “commit to taking the necessary steps to hold Turkey accountable for war crimes in Syria.” After becoming Committee Chairman, he also emphasized that not only Sweden's NATO membership but also other issues would be effective in the F-16 sales decision.

Again, Chris Van Hollen, a Democratic member of the Senate, advocated for conditions to be set for the F-16 sale or modernization program to Turkey, such as these aircraft not violating the airspace of NATO members like Greece and not being used against the PKK/YPG in Syria.

WHAT ASSURANCE DID BIDEN GIVE THEM?

As for the attitudes of these figures after Sweden's NATO membership; Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin, while stating that he would approve the sale of F-16s, noted that “he still has some concerns regarding Turkey's foreign policy, but that he is hopeful to see that the talks between the Biden administration and Ankara are developing in a positive and constructive direction.”

Committee member Chris Van Hollen, in a written statement, spoke more clearly and announced that the Biden administration had given him assurances regarding “Turkey's stance toward Greece,” “strongly opposing its attacks targeting the PKK/YPG in Syria,” and “continuing to warn Azerbaijan not to engage in new military activities against Armenia,” and therefore he would not block the F-16 sale to Turkey.

The pro-government media presented these statements as “a U-turn,” but it is clear that Van Hollen did not make a U-turn at all!..

THE HIDDEN AGENDAS OF GREECE

Let us look at Greece's activities regarding the F-16s.

Prime Minister Mitsotakis, in his speech at Congress during his US visit in May 2022, which received a standing ovation, called for “decisions regarding the sale of defense equipment that could contribute to instability in the southeastern flank of NATO to be carefully reviewed,” upon which Erdoğan reacted by saying, “There is no one named Mitsotakis for me anymore,” but this resentment lasted only 9 months.

As is known, on January 5th, the US Secretary of State came to Istanbul, met with Erdoğan and Hakan Fidan, and then went to Greece and met with Mitsotakis. Three days after this meeting, Mitsotakis made the following statement regarding the F-16s:

“We neither try to block this nor do we have the means to influence the sale of defense equipment to another country.”

The continuation of these words, which were ignored and unheard by the pro-government media, was as follows:

“The point we have expressed many times is very clear: in an alliance, defense materials, in this case aircraft, cannot be used for flights over Greek islands, for example.”

Following the submission of the letter to the US Congress for the sale of F-16s along with Sweden's NATO membership, the person who spoke the most about this was Greek Minister of National Defense Nikos Dendias. In all the interviews he gave, Dendias answered questions specifically about whether the US had made a commitment that the F-16s would not be used against Greece, in summary, as follows:

“The point that Greece has always voiced loudly is that it should be the US that decides whether the transfer of war materials to Turkey serves American and NATO interests... What is the US interest? Is it in the US interest for Greece to be threatened by another country? Let's not name Turkey and attack it. Weapons provided by the US, the most important NATO member country, against another NATO member country? Does this help the US interests? In my humble opinion, the answer is no. Consequently, the US must ensure that the supply of military equipment is not directed against allied countries and that the supply itself does not jeopardize the interests of the US and the alliance led by the US.”

“Is it in their interest and in the interest of the alliance for weapons provided by the US to be used by one ally against another? And to be used to challenge the sovereignty and sovereign rights [of an ally]? So, is it to be given without any conditions? With a blank check? In a way that they can do whatever they want? Is this right?”

“The US, considering its own interests and the interests of the alliance it leads, must ensure that weapon systems are not used by one ally against another. I think this is quite clear... Turkey has changed its behavior, but it has not suddenly changed its position. Most of the positions that Turkey continues to express are absolutely unacceptable. It has not canceled the Casus Belli either, it continues to act as if there is a Turkish-Libyan memorandum, and from time to time we hear the phrase 'blue homeland'.”

Since all of this reveals that a lot is going on between the US, Congress, and Greece, there are two possibilities:

The Biden administration is either deceiving Congress and Greece, or it is deceiving Turkey again.

Which one do you think is highly probable?!