© Reuters / Vitaly Nevar (L) ; Reuters / Amir Cohen (R)S-400s stationed in Russia and a F-35 on maneuvers
Speaking at a panel discussion organized by the Atlantic Council in Washington, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the S-400 purchase was "a done deal" - confirming President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's statement that the transaction would go ahead. He then blamed Washington for preventing the purchase of the US' Patriot system for a decade, while insisting that Russia's S-400 would not be a security issue.
"[S-400s] will not be integrated into the NATO system," Cavusoglu said, before proposing the creation of a technical group that would ensure that the air-defense system "will not be a threat" to either the F-35 or other NATO systems.
The comments come after NATO-member Turkey failed to adhere to a deadline set down by Washington to cancel the S-400 deal. By way of admonishment, the Pentagon said on Monday that it had "suspended deliveries and activities associated" with Turkey's F-35 program until "they forgo delivery of the S-400."
"Should Turkey procure the S-400, their continued participation in the F-35 program is at risk," the statement warned.
Despite the increased pressure from the US, Russia's Deputy PM Yuri Borisov expressed confidence in Turkey staying true to their contractual obligations. "The rest is rumors. We do not have any concerns yet," he said.
The US has harangued Turkey for months into dropping its purchase of the missile-defense system, arguing it would constitute a threat to its high-tech warplanes and affect NATO's interoperability. Separately, it has also pressured India into dropping negotiations over its purchase of S-400s. However, like in Ankara, calls have gone unheeded in New Delhi, which has been undeterred by threats of sanctions.
1) The US runs NATO, and the concerns of other members - except perhaps UK and France - are nigh irrelevant;
2) That NATO is - and likely always has been, simply about keeping the MIC in business and achieving the NWO as expressly stated by Bush*t I / David Rockefeller, et al.
For Turkey's sake, they should hope that the F-35 purchases should fall through, lest they spend some huge part of their GNP so as to be one of the first targets - along with Poland - if a nuclear war would start.
Even without a nuke exchange, re the F-35, (which the US will STILL try to force Turkey to buy, despite this obvious bluff), if Turkey does buy in, the boondoggle and waste will be called "Turkey's Turkeys."
R.C.