The head of a leading Greek American advocacy group warned that returning Turkey to the F-35 fighter program would hand the United States a national security threat, because Ankara has opened its telecommunications network to Chinese firms.
Speaking with host Matthew Boyle on Breitbart News Saturday, Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC) Executive Director Endy Zemenides said the China risk has drawn too little attention as the sale stalls in Washington. He pointed to a State Department letter telling Congress that Turkey still fails to meet the conditions set in U.S. law.
“If Turkey got to F-35s, it would be the only F-35 nation that has led China completely into its telecommunications network,” Zemenides said, noting that Chinese law can compel those companies to hand over information to Beijing.
Zemenides said the Russian S-400 dispute that got Turkey removed during President Donald Trump’s first term is only the start of what Ankara must fix. He said Turkey is worse now than it was then.
“We want Turkey to solve the S-400 issue, but that’s a floor, not a ceiling. Turkey has to earn the privilege of getting American weapons,” Zemenides said.
Zemenides said Turkey has floated partial fixes that would leave the door open to reactivating the Russian system.
“They want us to be okay with keeping them in a box. Well, if they’re in a box, it can be taken out of a box,” he said. “They propose solutions like, ‘Well, we’ll take out a chip, but we’ll keep the chip.’ Well, then you could put it back in.”
Zemenides said Secretaries Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth have serious reservations about a sale, while U.S. Ambassador Tom Barrack has pushed the other way.
“Tom Barrack is acting more like the Turkish ambassador to the U.S. than he is a U.S. ambassador to Turkey,” he said. “He’s gone native.”
The interview comes after a State Department letter to Congress on Wednesday. The department’s Bureau of Legislative Affairs told Rep. Wesley Bell (D-MO) that no F-35 transfer can proceed until Turkey gives up the S-400. Turkey must also meet remaining certifications under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act and the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. Trump’s suggestion at the Ankara NATO summit this month that a sale would “make sense” drew bipartisan opposition in Congress. This week also marked the 52nd anniversary of Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus.
“Right now we’re actually considering giving the most advanced American weapons to the de facto leader of the Muslim Brotherhood of the Middle East,” Zemenides said. “And that can’t be what we’re doing.”
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