The position that the United States they do not want American defense systems to be used in matters where there are disagreements between NATO allies, the US Secretary of State expressed, Anthony Blinken.
During a hearing at the House International Affairs Committee, the Democratic Congressman, David Cicilini, raised the issue of the violation of Greek sovereignty by the fleet of F-16 which already has Turkey. As he added, Ankara does not wish to give assurances that the upgraded fighters will not be used to violate Greek airspace.
Given that these actions undermine NATO unity, the US MP asked Anthony Blinken what steps the administration has taken to ensure that US weapons are not used to threaten key US allies and partners, such as in the case of Greece, Cyprus and northern Syria.
For his part, Mr Blinken reiterated the government’s long-standing position, which supports the upgrade and sale of new fighters to Turkey with the aim of ensuring interoperability within the NATO alliance. However, he was quick to make it clear that the government wants to ensure that this equipment is not used to promote differences within the alliance.
As he pointed out, “at the heart of our efforts – whether it’s with Turkey, or with Greece, or with any other NATO ally – is to ensure that they have the equipment and technology they need to be fully interoperability with NATO, so they can do what they need to do as NATO allies. At the same time, of course, we (want to) ensure that to the extent there are disputes between them, that any equipment or technology we provide is not used to further those disputes. We believe that Turkey should get the upgraded F-16s and the modernization packages. We think it is important for NATO, important for the alliance. At the same time, we are working diligently to try to ensure that any tensions that exist between NATO allies, in this case Greece and Turkey, are defused and that they do not engage in actions or rhetoric that will reignite the situation.”
Source: News Beast
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