F-16 sale does not change anything in poor relations between US and Turkey, expert says 

Political scientist and expert on Middle Eastern conflicts Kirill Semyonov commented to Alpha News on the news that the US Congress approved the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey.

“This does not change anything in relations between Turkey and the United States, by and large, since all those problems that played a negative role in their relations and their agenda persist. This applies to the presence of the United States in Northern Syria, support for Kurdish left-wing radical groups, and a number of other issues.

Of course, the United States, sooner or later, had to unblock the supply of the F-16 simply because this no longer fit within any framework. After all, Turkey is a NATO member; it needs to re-equip its military aircraft fleet, which is already becoming obsolete. Turkey did not receive the F-35, so at least it could count on the F-16. The Americans could no longer delay this, given the fact that Turkey fulfilled their certain wishes, namely, approving Sweden’s NATO bid. So, the Americans simply no longer had the opportunity to further restrain these supplies, even if they wanted to,” Semyonov said.