Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar stressed that his country would inevitably seek alternatives if it did not acquire US F-35 fighter jets, which Ankara is involved in manufacturing.
This came in an interview on Al-Jazeera English channel in which he discussed the Syrian situation, and various military and political aspects.
"Everyone should know that if we can't get it (F-35), we will naturally have to look for other alternatives," Akar said.
He stressed that Turkey will activate the Russian S-400 air defense system, independent of NATO systems, and will not integrate with it in any way.
The minister pointed out that his country wanted to get Patriot systems from the United States at first, but when it was not possible to buy the system S400.
In another context, Akar talked about the "Sochi" recent understanding with Russia on the removal of Kurdish fighters from the Syrian-Turkish border.
He pointed out that the facts on the ground show that some elements are still in the region, where the fire of harassment is still ongoing by terrorists.
The Turkish minister said that meetings with the Russians are still ongoing in order to get all terrorist groups out of the region.
He believed that joint Turkish patrols with the Russians would be more useful and more successful in the coming days, in terms of seeing developments in the region closely.