Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government

US senators declined on Thursday to block the sale of F-16s to Turkey, despite voicing deep disdain for Turkey's conduct as an ally. They were upholding an unofficial bargain that Turks would get the fighter jets if they stopped blocking Sweden's accession to NATO.

"A deal's a deal," said Idaho Senator Jim Risch, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Turkey must sustain its push on production and exports to prevent the economy falling into recession even as it fights inflation, Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said on Friday. 

Since May elections, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government launched a U-turn away from unorthodox policies including interest rate cuts that had sparked a lira crisis and sent inflation soaring. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson attend a press conference after their meeting in Ankara, 8 November 2022. Photo: EPA-EFE/NECATI SAVAS

The Twitter logo is seen on a smartphone held beside a Turkish flag. Photo: EPA/Karl-Josef Hildenbrand

"The Turkish government has accelerated its efforts to enforce censorship and tighten control over social media and independent online news sites ahead of this election," said Deborah Brown, senior technology researcher at Human Rights Watch.

The U.S. administration is preparing to get congressional approval for a $20 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Türkiye, along with a separate sale of next-generation F-35 warplanes to Greece.

Supporters of the HDP shout slogans during their march against the arrest of pro-Kurdish People's Democtaric Party HDP parliamentarians in Istanbul, 18 June 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/SEDAT SUNA

Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers Meeting, November 30, 2021. Photo: Council of Europe

"GRECO concluded that the very low level of compliance with the recommendations was 'globally unsatisfactory'," the report said.

Turkish soldiers guard the Silivri Prison in Istanbul, where many journalists and political prisoners held. Photo: EPA-EFE/TOLGA BOZOGLU

The former students at the Air Force Academy started to be released from prison early on Wednesday.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee on June 2 asked Serbia to delay the extradition of Ecevit Piroglu, a Kurdish politician and activist wanted by Turkey, until it reviews the case.

A man walks under the Turkish flag during a curfew in the COVID-19 pandemic in Istanbul, May 23, 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/ERDEM SAHIN

"Incidents of transnational repression that took place in Turkey accounted for a quarter of the total recorded by Freedom House last year," the report said.