Tracking the Feuds Plaguing the U.S.-Turkey Alliance

For years, one dispute after another has strained ties between the U.S. and Turkey. The two, which possess the largest armies in NATO, affirm the need to maintain their seven-decade alliance. But they have quarreled over Turkey’s purchase of a Russian missile-defense system, U.S. support for a Syrian Kurdish militia that Turkey views as a mortal threat, the rule of law in Turkey, and a U.S. prosecution of one of Turkey’s biggest banks, among other things. Now, Turkey has posed a critical test for the relationship by asking the U.S. to sell it new F-16 warplanes after it was barred from working on the more advanced F-35s.

Turkey sent a formal request to Washington on Sept. 30 to purchase from Lockheed Martin Corp. 40 new F-16s and some 80 kits to modernize its existing fighters. Turkey hopes to eventually develop its own jets but meantime is overdue to retire its F-4 jets and wants to upgrade its F-16 fleet as a stopgap measure. The requisition came a week after the U.S. finalized Turkey’s removal from the F-35 program as a consequence of its acquiring the S-400 missile-defense system made by Russia, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s top foe. The U.S. worried that the S-400 could be used to collect intelligence on the stealth capabilities of the F-35, which Turkey had helped to build and wanted to purchase. Beyond that, the U.S. is keen to prevent its allies from engaging with Russia’s defense sector. The F-16 deal is potentially worth $6 billion, but U.S. approval will be difficult to win given opposition to it within Congress. If denied the F-16s, Turkey has not ruled out the possibility of seeking alternatives, including from Russia.