The Trump administration is moving forward with a controversial arms sale worth $700 million to NATO ally Turkey despite apprehension over Ankara’s closeness with Russia and terrorist groups in the Middle East.Rep.Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the administration notified him of the State Department’s decision to bypass Congress and send Turkey the $700 million in defense articles, mostly fighter jets."In this case, the State Department did not even attempt to justify its decision.
It did not invoke any emergency authority, did not present a written rationale, and for months refused to make a good-faith effort to brief me on implications of the sale for the U.S.-Turkey relationship, Turkey’s continued possession of the Russian S-400 system, and other regional security concerns," Rep.Meeks said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital.TURKEY DETAINS OVER 200 SUSPECTS, INCLUDING ALLEGED ISIS MILITANTS, IN SWEEPING RAID AHEAD OF NATO SUMMITTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan observes a military exercise in Izmir, Turkey, on June 9, 2022.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan observed the final day of a large-scale joint military exercise in Turkey's western Izmir province on Thursday. (Photo by Xinhua via Getty Images)Turkey signed a deal with Moscow in 2017 to purchase the Russian S-400 air defense system and acquired it in 2019, causing alarm within the NATO alliance.The U.S.
and NATO considered the move an intelligence threat that undermines NATO cohesion and readiness.The S-400 is designed to detect, track, and exploit stealth aircraft like the F-35."Turkey’s possession of both the S-400 and the F-35 is so dangerous because the two systems operating in proximity or networking together could give Moscow valuable intelligence for shooting down F-35s flown by Americans and our allies," according to a report from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.The U.S.sanctioned Turkey in 2019 for the p...