Turkish, US defense chiefs discuss Sweden’s NATO bid, transfer of F16s to Türkiye

By Zehra Nur Duz

ANKARA (AA) - Turkiye's National Defense Minister Yasar Guler and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd James Austin on Monday spoke over the phone and discussed Sweden’s NATO bid as well as the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ankara, according to the Turkish National Defense Ministry.

Guler and Austin also discussed bilateral and regional defense and security issues, the ministry said on Twitter.

The phone call came as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday agreed to send Sweden's NATO Accession Protocol to parliament after a trilateral meeting with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson ahead of the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Ankara requested F-16 fighter jets and modernization kits from the US in October 2021. The $6-billion deal would include the sale of 40 jets as well as modernization kits for 79 warplanes already in the Turkish Air Force’s inventory.