Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Turkish Foreign Minister: Turkey Will Look Elsewhere If U.S. Won't Sell Patriots, F-35s

A Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft is seen at the ILA Air Show in Berlin, Germany, April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt/File Photo

Reuters: Turkey says it will look elsewhere if U.S. won't sell Patriots, F-35s

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey warned on Wednesday that it could buy jets and additional air defense systems from Russia if it cannot get Patriot missile shields and F-35 jets from Washington, raising the prospect of ever deeper defense ties between Moscow and a NATO member.

President Tayyip Erdogan’s existing plans to buy Russian S-400 missile defenses have already alarmed the United States, which says they are not compatible with NATO systems and would compromise the security of F-35 jets Turkey is due to receive.

Washington has offered Ankara both carrot and stick in response, proposing to sell it the Raytheon Co. Patriot systems instead of the S-400s, while at the same time warning of sanctions and a halt in the F-35 fighter jet sales if the Russian deal goes ahead.

Read more ....

Update: Turkey to look for alternatives if US doesn’t deliver F-35s (AP)

WNU Editor: The U.S. response to the Turkish Foreign Minister's remarks is that the U.S. may levy sanctions .... Pompeo: With S-400, Turkey won’t get F-35, may get sanctions (Defense News).

1 comment:

RussInSoCal said...

Turkey is no position to give the US and NATO the finger. They don’t have the economic wherewithal to stand alone. Russia and Iran have no interest is carrying them either.