Erdogan: US Linking F-16s to Getting Us to Approve Sweden in NATO

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

Speaking to reporters on his flight back from Azerbaijan's exclave of Nakhchivan, Erdogan said Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed Sweden's NATO membership bid last week in New York.

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

"If they [the U.S.] keep their promises, our parliament will keep its own promise as well," he said. "Turkish parliament will have the final say on Sweden's NATO membership."