U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Member, Democrat Senator Jeanne Shaheen, spoke to Bloomberg HT journalist Ali Çınar. Senator Shaheen said that as a Senate Foreign Relations Committee member, she would look deeper into Turkey's F-16 request.

"We should sell them the F-16 jets and modernize those jets as well. It's not in our interest not to do that, and there's no quid pro quo with that, and it's just that we should sell. But I need congressional approval to be able to do that, and I think we can get that," President Biden said at a news conference after the NATO leaders' summit in Madrid.

President Biden's comments gave the strongest signal of the administration's support for the proposed sale of new F-16s to Turkey.

Senator Shaheen, who makes critical statements about Turkey, spoke to Ciner Media USA Representative Ali Çınar about the new sales of 40 F-16s and nearly 80 F-16 modernization kits for Turkey. Here is Senator Shaheneen's statement:

“Turkey remains a valuable ally and a critical regional security partner for the United States and NATO. I remain committed to maintaining the already robust bilateral security relationship between our two countries. The F16 upgrade package submitted by the Biden administration - like any foreign arms sale - will ultimately have to go through a comprehensive review by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to ensure that the deal will benefit our joint security interests. As a member of that committee, I will work with the committee and ask questions of the administration to thoroughly review their request.” - U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen

Members of the House of Representatives Carolyn Maloney, Gus Bilirakis, and Chris Pappas announced their disappointment with the apparent plan to modernize Turkey's F-16s.

Key Republican Senator Lindsay Graham backed the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. Upgrading its "aviation capability will benefit Turkey, the U.S., NATO, and regional security," said Lindsey Graham on Wednesday.

While Turkish Parliament Members are preparing to visit Washington D.C. for meetings with their U.S. Counterparts regarding the F-16 request, the U.S. Congress will be closed from August 8 to September 5. In addition, Congressional midterm elections will be held on November 8 for the 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 seats in the Senate.

Bloomberg HT Journalist Ali Cinar interviewed Michael Saylor, the CEO of Microstrategy. Saylor said that he thinks Bitcoin will survive, unlike most other digital assets.

CEO of Microstrategy Michael Saylor evaluated the decline in cryptocurrencies and the future of digital assets to Bloomberg HT. Having stated that, he thinks Bitcoin will survive. Still, most of the remaining assets will not be able to survive. Saylor also said, "There are almost 20 thousand cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin. The failure rate for tokens, except for Bitcoin, will be 99%."

"Bitcoin is a truly well-engineered decentralized asset, so it will survive," he said. Saylor also emphasized that regulations are required for the cryptocurrency stock exchange, saying, "There is extreme leverage, and with these regulations, they will be further reduced. Besides, it is important for regulators to provide crypto education."

"If you would like to hedge yourself weekly or monthly against inflation monthly or weekly, I have to say that it does not have a safe port strategy in the short term. A thing to do would be to develop a long-lasting strategy. You need to have a strategy that covers four years or more. As for a long-term strategy, different instruments in the basket is a requirement," he added.

Regarding the long-term performance of Bitcoin, Saylor made the following remark: "Considering the periods of two, four or eight years, we can state that Bitcoin has a five to ten times better performance compared to the other alternatives. It showed a better performance than Nasdaq shares, real estate or gold."

Saylor also touched on the regulations issue, commenting, "Bitcoin is actually one of the digital commodities. All of the other 20 thousand cryptocurrency assets are securities. Everything must be explained in these assets as in the other listed companies." They refuse to do this, and problems occur at this point. More transparency will be in question in the next few years because the regulatory authorities have started to work more actively. There is such a transformation, but there are also lots of uncertainties within this transformation. This means if you buy cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin, you take a huge risk.

Asserting that Bitcoin is the best of all digital commodities, Saylor stated that the strategy of Microstrategy is to retain Bitcoin for the long term (longer than ten years). Emphasizing that Microstrategy is already a very profitable company, Saylor also said, "We declared that we bought Bitcoin for an amount of 10 million dollars. We also did this at very different times when we had cash. We are not trying to buy at the bottom and sell at the top. "If you focus on which days will be good or bad, you will fail 98 percent of the time."

Tim Ozgener is back in the cigar industry with a new brand bearing his family name. The man who once owned and ran CAO alongside his father and sister is about to launch Ozgener Family Cigars Bosphorus. It’s his first blend in around 12 years, and the beginning of what he expects to be several cigars launched under the Ozgener name.  “I still love cigars—and I found I appreciate them more and more,” said Ozgener during a recent visit to the Cigar Aficionado offices in New York City. “Some of the most satisfying portions of my life were in the cigar business. I love the traditions.” He’s been working on the new project, he says, “for close to two years.”

(Chatham, NJ) - Seven days before the pivotal Morris County Republican Convention in Congressional District 11, Morris County Commissioner Tayfun Selen continued to add to his endorsement list with a number of key Republican elected officials including from three of the largest towns in the 11th Congressional District. Among the new endorsements Selen for Congress campaign announced today include: