Esen Fidanlik
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TurkeyThe company’s position on its acquisition of Russia’s S-400 missile defense systems is unchanged and the deal is “done,” President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.
He also said talks with Washington on new F-16 jets and kits are going well.
The United States imposed sanctions on a NATO member TurkeyAnkara’s defense industry in December 2020 over the S-400s and expelled Ankara from the F-35 stealth fighter program, of which it was a manufacturer and buyer. Ankara says the moves are unfair.
Broadcaster Haberturk quoted Erdogan as telling reporters on a flight home from a NATO summit in Brussels that he hoped positive talks on the purchase of new F-16 jets and modernization in Washington would soon yield results.
He also dismissed reports that U.S. officials had informally raised with Turkey the unlikely possibility of sending the S-400 systems to Ukraine amid the Russian invasion, saying “all they do is cause trouble” in reference to Washington.
Erdogan said he also discussed the possibility of buying SAMP-T missile defense systems from the Franco-Italian consortium Eurosam with French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi during the summit.
(Reuters)
