Turkey does not intend to take steps to reverse the purchase and use of Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile systems, President Tayyip Erdogan told Turkish reporters aboard his plane on Thursday as he returned from the United States.
"I can't say that Turkish-American relations are going through a healthy phase. Why? Look, we bought [American fifth-generation fighter jets] F-35s, but they didn't deliver them to us. America should deal with that first, not make excuses by citing [a problem with their compatibility with] the S-400. Of course, we will do whatever it takes, based on international law <...> The work with the S-400s is finished for us, we will not back down. The US should understand that," the Sabah newspaper quoted him as saying.
Russia and Turkey signed a contract in 2017 for Moscow to supply Ankara with S-400 complexes. Turkey was the first NATO country to buy the systems from Russia. Ankara's decision caused a sharp negative reaction from Washington and the alliance as a whole. The United States keeps trying to get Turkey to give up its Russian SAM systems. Earlier Washington excluded Ankara from the US F-35 production program. Erdogan said in October 2020 that Ankara did not intend to give up the S-400, despite pressure from Washington. He also rejected threats of sanctions and suggested that the US should try to actually impose them.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Zuma \ TASS
Based on materials from TASS