Turkey may purchase Russian Su-35 and Su-57 fighters if the US freezes the sale of F-16s following the F-35, said Ismail Demir, head of Turkey's defense industry department.
Dmitry Shugaev, director of Russia's Federal service for military-technical cooperation (FSMTC), told RIA Novosti earlier that Russia is ready to hold talks with the Turkish side on the Su-35 and Su-57 fighters if Ankara decides to buy them.
"If the process (US sale of F-16s and their modernization - ed.) does not bring results, Turkey will not be left without alternatives. If necessary, the Su-35 and Su-57 could be open at any time. Our industry does everything to ensure our security, and if something is needed extra, we can always find a way out," Demir said on Kanal 7 TV.
Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday that the US offered his country to buy F-16 fighter jets after it was excluded from the program to produce the latest F-35 fighter jets.
Earlier, the US gave Turkey official notice of its exclusion from the program to produce the latest F-35 fighter jets because of Ankara's purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems. The US cancelled a joint memorandum on F-35 production signed by Turkey in January 2007, signing it with the seven remaining partners in the F-35 project - Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, Denmark, Canada and Norway.
Turkey had previously committed to buy 100 F-35 aircraft. It also participated in the production of more than 1 thousand components for them. Earlier Mustafa Varank, Turkey's minister of industry and technology, told RIA Novosti that Turkey continues to produce these components, despite the fact that the United States excluded it from this project.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
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Based on materials from RIA Novosti