"More advanced": Turkish Foreign Minister claims superiority of C-400 over American Patriot systems

Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems are more advanced than their American counterparts Patriot. This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Mevlut Cavusoglu, speaking on the TV channel TGRT. According to him, better suited for protection against air attacks on the territory of Turkey.

“Russian S-400s are more advanced air defense systems than American ones,” Cavusoglu stressed.

He also noted that the S-400 should take up combat duty in early 2020. At the same time, the diplomat said that the systems should be used "to maintain peace in the region" and exclusively for defensive purposes.

In addition, Chavushoglu commented on the possibility of imposing sanctions against Ankara by Washington for the purchase of Russian weapons. In particular, we are talking about the possible exclusion of Turkey from the program to create a fifth-generation fighter F-35. The head of the Turkish Foreign Ministry believes that US President Donald Trump will not make such a decision, since he is interested in continuing military cooperation with Ankara.

“We are not excluded from the F-35 program, Trump does not want this, he is trying to keep his word, which he gave to our president in Osaka at the G20 summit. He has the authority to reject congressional decisions, ”the diplomat believes.

Others, he stressed that in the case of the imposition of sanctions by the United States, Turkey can take retaliatory actions. In particular, Cavusoglu said that Ankara "can be made a step in relation to the Incirlik airbase". He urged not to consider this blackmail, calling such an initiative "a natural position in these conditions."

Speaking of frictions in relations with the United States and the country's further membership in NATO, Cavusoglu said that “it is impossible to exclude Turkey from NATO,” since decisions in this alliance are made by consensus, and if there are objections from at least one country, the decision cannot be made.

According to the director of the Center for Oriental Studies of International Relations and Public Diplomacy, associate professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry Vladimir Avatkov, this way Turkey demonstrates that it also has leverage on the United States.

“The Incirlik base is one of the key interests of the United States of America in this region. And if the Americans impose sanctions on their ally in the region, on Turkey, then it shows that she also has points on which she can put pressure. In particular, to limit in one way or another the possibilities of Americans based on Incirlik, ”said Avatkov

The expert believes that in case of further deterioration of relations between Washington and Ankara, the American side can "use the same technologies with regard to it that they used in many other countries of the world."

Strengthening cooperation with Russia

Meanwhile, the supply of S-400 systems can initiate closer cooperation between Russia and Turkey in the field of armaments. On Monday, the head of Rostec, Sergey Chemezov, in an interview with Anadolu, said that the Turkish authorities are interested in acquiring other Russian air defense systems and anti-tank complexes. According to him, at the moment the countries continue negotiations on the possibility of transferring the production of some components for the S-400 to Turkey.

“Moscow and Ankara hold consultations in the field of licensed production of elements of anti-aircraft missile systems S-400,” Chemezov said.

In addition, negotiations are underway on Russia's assistance in creating Turkey’s own air defense and missile defense systems. Chemezov noted that this level of cooperation allows Turkey to be called one of Russia's key partners in the military-technical sector.

Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke about this. He mentioned several times that after the completion of deliveries of the S-400, the joint production of air defense missile systems would become a new target for Turkey. We are talking about both the S-400 and the new developments, such as the S-500.

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Pavel Salin, director of the Center for Political Studies at the Financial University, notes that now relations between Russia and Turkey are "in an uptrend." However, he cautioned against overly optimistic forecasts.

“Russia is seen by Turkey as such a“ balancer of interaction ”with the West. Perhaps, Turkey sees China as the same “balancer”, ”Salin believes.

At the same time, he warns that the nature of the relationship may change at any time if Ankara considers it advantageous for its interests. In addition, the Turkish authorities will not abandon the US base.

“Turkey is pursuing a multi-vector, not pro-Moscow policy. Therefore, this does not mean that it is reoriented from the United States to Moscow. Turkey’s “balancers” are important; it will retain the US military base as a guarantee of further interaction with the United States, but will send some signals. That is, these will be measures of a purely technical nature, not strategic. Turkey in general will not refuse interaction with the USA. It is important for her to keep the opportunity for interaction in all directions to the maximum. Therefore, nothing serious and fundamentally important with the American base in Turkey will happen, ”the analyst believes.

America against

To date, about 20 aircraft with S-400 components have arrived in Turkey. Deliveries of the complexes caused a harsh rejection of the American administration, the White House said that the purchase of the complexes "undermines the commitment expressed by all allies of the alliance to refuse to buy Russian systems."

The White House is considering the possibility of imposing sanctions on Turkey. Among other things, the US is threatening to exclude Turkey from the production program of F-35 fighters, moreover, that, according to the president, has already invested more than $ 1 billion in the program. The US administration insists that F-35 are incompatible with C-400 systems. , because the complexes allegedly can collect data on vulnerabilities and capabilities of American combat vehicles.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry called this decision unfair, illegal and "not related to the spirit of cooperation" between the countries. The ministry also stressed that the proposals to establish a working group on the S-400 issue remained unanswered, which indicates the prejudice of the American side and its unwillingness to solve this problem.