Erdogan: US Senator Menendez's exit from the picture is useful. Turkish media quoted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying that Ankara needs to turn the legal challenges faced by US Senator Bob Menendez into an opportunity. Menendez, a Democrat who temporarily stepped down as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has long opposed the potential sale of F-16s to Ankara. On Friday, Menendez and his wife were charged with taking bribes after a federal investigation into their ties to three New Jersey businessmen with ties to the Egyptian government.