President Erdoğan: I’m not saying Turkey will buy S-400 defense systems, it has already bought them; we’ve closed the deal

 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke at Justice and Development (AK) Party’s group meeting in the capital Ankara.

“I’m not saying Turkey will buy S-400 defense systems, it has already bought them; we’ve closed the deal,” Erdoğan told.

He noted that Ankara and Moscow had signed the deal with a pledge for a reasonable price and future joint production.

“This [S-400] system will be delivered to our country next month,” Erdoğan added.

Touching on Turkey’s procurement of F-35 fighter jets from the U.S., Erdoğan said his country is not only a customer, but also co-producer of the jets.

Ankara had paid $1 billion 250 million for the F-35 jets until today, the president underlined.

Tensions between the U.S. and Turkey have reached a fever pitch in recent months with Turkey set to begin receiving the advanced S-400 Russian surface-to-air missile defense system which Washington said will jeopardize Turkey’s role in the U.S. F-35 fighter jet program and could trigger congressional sanctions.

Following protracted efforts to purchase an air defense system from the U.S. with no success, Ankara decided in 2017 to purchase the Russian S-400 system.

U.S. officials advised Turkey to buy the U.S. Patriot missile system rather than the S-400s from Moscow, arguing the Russian system would be incompatible with NATO systems and expose the F-35 to possible Russian subterfuge. 

Turkey, however, emphasized the S-400 would not be integrated into NATO systems and would not pose a threat to the alliance.