Brown, Colleagues Send Bipartisan Letter Urging Delay of F-16 Sales to Türkiye Until Its Approval of NATO Accession Protocols for Sweden and Finland

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) joined a bipartisan letter to President Biden expressing concern about Türkiye's continued delays around ratifying the NATO accession protocols for Sweden and Finland. The letter states that Congressional consideration of F-16 fighter jet sales to Türkiye, the country also known by the name Turkey, should not begin until the NATO protocols are ratified. The Senators note the importance of welcoming Sweden and Finland into NATO to further strengthen the alliance amid Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine and broader attempts to destabilize the global order.

"We write with concern about President Erdo?an and the Republic of Türkiye's continued delays ratifying the accession protocols for Sweden and Finland to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Failure to ratify the protocols or present a timeline for ratification threatens the Alliance's unity at a key moment in history, as Russia continues its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. A productive and mutually beneficial bilateral security relationship with Türkiye is in the interest of the United States, and we are awaiting the government's ratification of the NATO accession protocols for Sweden and Finland," the Senators wrote.

U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Chris Coons (D-DE), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), John Boozman (R-AR), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Angus King (I-ME), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Rick Scott (R-FL), Patty Murray (D-WA), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) also signed onto the letter.

A copy of the text of the letter is available here.

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