and Turkey continue to fundamentally diverge over the PYD’s position in northern Syria, the Turkish purchase of the Russian S-400s, and arms transfers.
Turkey’s intention to purchase Russian S-400 air missile defense systems, and the detention of the American pastor, Andrew Brunson,-- who has been accused by the Turkish court for serving the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) following the July 15 coup attempt-- are stated to be the major reasons behind the American resentment.
Congress is once again utilizing the punishment methodology on its strategic partner and wants Turkey to be sanctioned if Ankara completes the purchase of Russia’s S-400s.
The current disagreements over the issues of S-400 aerial missile defense systems and F-35 fighter jets expected to be delivered in 2019 complicates the agreement outcomes for both Ankara and Washington.
With this agreement, Turkey made it clear that it does not intend to remain dependent on a single country in the field of defense, and that Ankara aims to diversify its security and foreign policies by procuring similar weapon systems from its European allies in addition to the S-400 air defense systems purchased from Russia.
S-400 missiles
Regarding a question on various concerns over Turkey’s purchase of the S-400 missile defense system from Russia, Yıldırım said “the answer is simple.
n a strategic move, Turkey signed a letter of intent with France and Italy to develop its national missile defense systems – fending off the assumptions that Turkey was moving away from its NATO alliance after signing an agreement with Russia in September to buy S-400 surface-to air missiles.
S-400 payments and bilateral relationsBoth Erdogan and Putin said that they had a “productive” meeting and exchanged views on the areas of regional politics, trade and energy.
Ankara’s negotiation with Moscow to buy the S-400 air missile defense system is an important move that has strategic value, but any strategic effort with Russia has the potential to be overshadowed by friction between the two countries when it comes to Syria.
After having trust issues with its Western allies, Turkey sought rapprochement with Russia and leaned towards military cooperation with the country, which was sealed with the deal to purchase S-400 air defense missiles.
During the Putin-Erdogan meeting held at the Kremlin on March 10, 2017, the leaders also discussed the procurement of Almaz-Antey S-400 “Triumf” which is a powerful long-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) system.