UK ministers in Turkey discuss fighter jet deals, NATO policy

LONDON, 25 June 2022, (TON): UK ministers visited Turkey to discuss NATO policy and possible sales of military equipment ahead of a major summit of the alliance next week.

Days after the high-level trip by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss visited Ankara in the hopes of swaying Turkey to abandon its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO.

Turkey opposes Swedish and Finnish admission to the alliance because of what it claims is Stockholm’s support for outlawed Kurdish groups.

Earlier in June, Kurdish activists at a rally in Sweden showed images of Abdullah Ocalan, a founding member of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which is banned by Turkey as a terrorist organization.

In response to the protests, Ankara said “it would block Swedish admission to NATO, a move that angered US lawmakers, who have threatened to halt a deal to sell F-16 fighter jets to Turkey.”

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