Since the joint announcement made by Stockholm and Helsinki regarding a candidacy of the two countries to NATO in a procedure claiming to be urgent because of the war in Ukraine, Ankara and its President RT Erdogan have repeatedly argued his right of veto on the pretext that the two countries, and Sweden in particular, would welcome "terrorists" from the Kurdish Workers' Party and the Gulenist movement responsible, according to the Turkish authorities, for the 2016 coup attempt. Despite attempts at negotiations between the 3 capitals, it quickly became clear that the demands made by Ankara were unacceptable...
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President Erdogan raises the stakes for Sweden's NATO membership
A few days ago, President Joe Biden publicly announced that he expected the United States Congress to accept the acquisition of 40 new F-16V Viper fighters, as well as 80 modernization kits to enable the Turkish Air Force to carry a part of its F-16 C/D fleet to this new, significantly more efficient standard, in particular due to the AESA AN/APG-83 radar. For the White House, it was a question of obtaining from President Erdogan that he withdraw his veto concerning the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO, following the request made by these countries after the Russian aggression against Ukraine. We would have…
Read the articleF-16V against NATO membership, the United States will give in to President Erdogan's blackmail
Since the announcement of the candidacy of Stockholm and Helsinki to NATO following the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the renewed tensions in Europe generated by this, Turkey exploits as much as possible the statutes of the Alliance Atlantique, which requires that a new membership receive the approval of all of its members, in an attempt to lift all or part of the sanctions imposed by the American Congress but also by the Europeans following the acquisition of a battery anti-aircraft S-400 with Moscow and the military operation against the Kurds in Syria. Claiming support from Scandinavian capitals for Kurdish nationals considered by Ankara to be Terrorists of the…
Read the articleOnce again, President RT Erdogan opposes NATO membership of Sweden and Finland
Not surprisingly, Turkish President RT Erdogan announced last Friday that he would oppose Sweden and Finland joining NATO, despite recent efforts by Stockholm and Helsinki to meet the requirements of the Turkish authorities. As before, the Head of State explains his decision, which turns out to be a blocker for the accession of the two Scandinavian countries to the Atlantic Alliance since it requires unanimity of votes, by the policies followed by the two countries. in matters of asylum, and in particular with regard to certain members of the Turkish Workers' Party or designated as such by Ankara, but also with regard to…
Read the articleTurkey Sanctions Dropped From New 2023 US Defense Budget Bill
Since 2020, following the delivery of S-400 systems to Russia, the US Congress has systematically included in the laws governing annual US defense spending, the ban on the executive branch from lifting the technological sanctions imposed on Ankara. It was then a question of limiting the capacity to circumvent the veto posed by Congress by the Trump administration, which is quite reluctant in this area, and rather inclined to more flexibility vis-à-vis Turkey and its president. RT Erdogan. The same provision was incorporated into the National Defense Authorization Act 2022, when the new administration of Joe Biden, too, wanted the partial lifting…
Read the articleKızılelma drone, T-FX fighter, Altay tank: Turkish industry under pressure for its next-generation programs
Since the Turkish ground intervention in northern Syria in 2018, Ankara's military involvement in the Libyan civil war in 2019 and the tensions between the Turkish and Greek air and naval fleets in the Aegean Sea in 2020, and above all the delivery of the first S-400 anti-aircraft battery in July 2020, the Turkish defense industry, hitherto very dynamic under the impetus of President Erdogan who had made it a key marker of his political action, experienced very difficult times under the combined effects of European and American sanctions. In fact, many key programs, such as the next-generation battle tank…
Read the articleAzerbaijan, Turkey, China: The risks of conflicts of opportunity grow on the uncertainties in Ukraine
By attacking Ukraine in February 2022, Russia will not only have endangered peace and security in Europe, but worldwide. Indeed, many latent conflicts, constrained by the joint action of Moscow and the European and American capitals, are emerging again, to the point that one can fear that major conflicts may even arise in several places around the world, some of which could potentially further undermine the difficult economic balances on which the West is built. In recent days, some of its theaters have flared up, or are showing signs of extreme tension, as the Russian armies...
Read the articleErdogan mobilizes his nationalist electorate by threatening Greece with an attack without warning
For a while, it looked like Turkish President RT Erdogan was trying to redeem his virginity vis-à-vis his NATO partners and the United States after Russia attacked Ukraine. Initially firm with Moscow, Ankara notably supported Ukrainian defense by delivering TB2 Bayraktar drones, which quickly became one of the symbols of the country's resistance, and by closing the straits leading to the Black Sea in order to prevent the Russian Navy from transfer ships there. At the same time, Turkey was pressuring Washington and the White House to authorize the acquisition of new F-16 fighters and…
Read the articleDeprived of F-16V, the Turkish president threatens to reinstate his veto on the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO
3 days ! That's how long it took President RT Erdogan to once again threaten a Turkish veto on Sweden's and Finland's membership of the Atlantic Alliance, after the US Congress voted , on the occasion of the vote of the 2023 finance law of the US armed forces, two amendments which hinder the possibilities of exporting the F-16 Viper but also other defense technologies to Ankara. Of course, the subjects not being supposed to be officially linked, President Erdogan publicly takes umbrage at the lack of “responsiveness” of the Swedish authorities concerning the request for the extradition of 33 refugees to…
Read the articleUS Congress blocks sale of new F-16s to Turkey
10 months ago, in October 2021, the Turkish authorities announced that they had sent an export request to the Foreign Miltiry Sales for 40 new F-16 combat aircraft of the Block 70 Viper standard, as well as 80 kits allowing to upgrade 80 of its F-16 Block 52s to this standard, the most advanced currently available for the Lockheed aircraft. If the Biden administration had shown itself ready to support such a request in the hope of restoring normalized relations with Ankara, the American Congress, which has the last word on the subject, had been more than doubtful. Indeed, for the American senators and representatives,…
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