Turkey will back Sweden's Nato bid if US keeps promise on F-16 sale: Erdogan

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An F-16 combat jet of the US Airforce is prepared for practice flights ahead of the Air Defender Exercise 2023 at the military airport of Jagel, northern Germany, on June 9, 2023.   AXEL HEIMKEN/Pool via REUTERS/ File Photo

The US administration is linking F-16 fighter jet sales to Turkey with Ankara's ratification of Sweden's bid, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

PHOTO: REUTERS

ANKARA - Turkey's parliament will keep its promise to ratify Sweden's Nato bid if US President Joe Biden's administration paves the way for F-16 jet sales to Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday, according to Turkish media.

Mr Erdogan was speaking to reporters on his flight back from Azerbaijan's exclave of Nakhchivan.

He said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed Sweden's Nato membership bid last week in New York.

The US administration is linking F-16 fighter jet sales to Turkey with Ankara's ratification of Sweden's bid, Mr Erdogan said.

"If they (the US) keep their promises, our Parliament will keep its own promise as well. Turkish Parliament will have the final say on Sweden's Nato membership," he said. REUTERS

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