Members of the United States Congress

A senior US senator who has long opposed the potential sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey said on Tuesday he wants Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to take a "less belligerent" stance toward NATO allies and Turkey's neighbors before lifting his opposition to the deal.

US Senator Robert Menedez (D-NJ), the powerful chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, says that Turkey should not get new F-16 fighter planes and upgrade kits until they "end their belligerence" towards Greece, news site Politico reports.

The US Department of State announced Saturday it has decided to approve a small modernization package for Turkey's existing F-16 fleet.

The deal, valued at an estimated $259 million, is the first military equipment sale to Turkey in years and concerns avionics software upgrades.

President Joe Biden's choice to run the Federal Aviation Administration (AA) has withdrawn his nomination, a setback for the administration that comes after Denver International Airport CEO Phillip Washington appeared to lack enough support in the closely divided Senate.

Any decision by the United States to go ahead with the sale of F-16 fighter jets and upgrade kits to Turkey would be "baffling" given the "belligerent" stance of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan towards NATO ally Greece, said Senator Bob Menendez, chair of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, reiterating that he will not approve the sale.

The initiative belongs to Representatives Chris Pappas, Gus Bilirakis, and Carolyn Maloney

New York is done with dressing down: the splashy black-tie Met Gala returned on Sept. 13, with a cohort of Gen-Z's glitterati hosting the A-lister bash famed for its over-the-top panache - and, despite the pandemic, this year the fashion was so fierce one guest wielded a sword.

Marco Rubio: “The first chance I get to vote to end this trial, I’ll do it”

Bipartisan statement from House foreign affairs committee expresses concerns over relationship

Hellenism recently lost one of its most important representatives in the United States, Paul Sarbanes, who died at 87. The iconic politician left behind more than an extremely important body of work in American politics and a great contribution to the Greek-American community.