A U.S. technical team will have talks in Turkey on Jan. 15-16 to express specific concerns over the latter’s purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense systems particularly in regards to the flight safety of F-35 aircraft. Hurriyet reports.
The U.S. has formally made an offer to Turkey for the sale of the multibillion dollar Patriot air defense systems after the U.S. State Department approved on Dec. 18 a possible foreign military sale of the Patriot air and missile defense system to Turkey for an estimated total of $3.5 billion.
Turkey says it would buy Patriot systems from the U.S. but not on the condition of cancelling the S-400 systems from Russia.
The U.S. has long been urging Turkey to cancel its plans to purchase $2.5 billion worth Russian-made S-400 anti-ballistic missile system because it would harm the flight safety of fifth generation F-35 aircraft, dubbed the stealth fighter.
It is concerned that Turkey’s combination of S-400 batteries and F-35 fighters as one would give Russia a chance to closely study the aircraft and take measures in order to defeat it. A report issued by Pentagon in November 2018 had suggested Turkey’s removal from the F-35 production program if Turkey does not cancel plans for S-400s.
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Jan. 10 replied to a question on the latest move by the U.S. on selling Patriots, the sophisticated long-range anti-ballistic missile systems, to Turkey.
“The U.S. made its first offer for the Patriots. But we are not in a position to defend our deal with Russia on the S-400s. We have an immediate need to cover air space. In fact, we may purchase Patriots in the future as well,” Çavuşoğlu said in a televised interview.
But, he added, Turkey will never accept pressure from the U.S. on dropping the purchase of the S-400s from Russia to deploy Patriots. “The S-400s are an accomplished deal. We never break our promises,” he said.