Pappas Leads Bipartisan Call for State Department to Reject Turkey’s Request to Rejoin F-35 Program

Today Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01), Congressman Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), Congresswoman Dina Titus (NV-01), and Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11), co-chairs and vice co-chairs of the Hellenic Caucus, led a bipartisan group of 40 lawmakers in calling on the U.S. Department of State to reject Turkey’s attempts to rejoin the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. Turkey was removed from the program by the Trump Administration in 2019 and is currently subject to sanctions under the Countering American Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) because of the Erdogan government’s decision to purchase Russia’s S-400 surface-to-air missile defense system in direct violation of U.S. law.

Underscoring the danger of readmitting Turkey to the F-35 program while in possession of the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system, the lawmakers wrote, “Lifting sanctions or allowing Turkey back into the F-35 program without first removing its S-400s would jeopardize the integrity of F-35 systems; expose U.S. military secrets to Russian intelligence; undermine our defense industrial base and allied confidence in purchasing future U.S. platforms; and disrupt development of the next-generation fighter jet recently announced by the Administration.”

They stressed the bipartisan, bicameral support for Turkey’s removal from the program and continued sanctions: “This is not a partisan issue. Congress has consistently supported CAATSA sanctions and Turkey’s removal from the F-35 program across multiple administrations and with bipartisan support. We urge the Administration to uphold U.S. law, maintain CAATSA sanctions, and protect American defense and intelligence assets. We must continue to hold allies and adversaries alike accountable when their actions threaten U.S. interests.”

“We stand firmly in support of our servicemembers, our defense industrial base, and preserving United States leadership in global aerospace and defense capabilities, and we urge you to do the same,” they concluded.

The full text of the letter can be found here.

The letter is supported by AHEPA, the American Hellenic Institute (AHI), American Jewish Committee (AJC), American Friends of Kurdistan, Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), Coordinated Effort of Hellenes, CUFI Action Fund, FDD Action, the Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC), Middle East Forum (MEF), and PSEKA – International Coordinating Committee Justice for Cyprus.

Background:

The Trump Administration removed Turkey from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program in 2019. In recent months, it has been reported that the Trump Administration is actively discussing Turkey’s readmission to the program with President Erdogan.

Pappas has led bipartisan efforts under both the Trump and Biden administrations to stop the sale of fighter jets to Turkey in response to Turkey’s continued violation of U.S. law, unprovoked aggression against key U.S. allies, and destabilizing actions throughout the region. Following repeated calls on the State Department to block the sale of fighter jets to Turkey, Pappas secured passage of a bipartisan amendment in the House FY2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would have prohibited the sale of F-16s to Turkey.

In response to the Biden Administration’s notification to Congress of plans to proceed with the sale of F-16s to Turkey, Pappas again led multiple efforts opposing the proposed sale and advocating for conditions if any such sale proceeded.