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Turkey began testing Russian anti-aircraft systems on November 25, despite Washington's repeated calls not to activate them on pain of sanctions.
With our correspondent in Istanbul, Anne Andlauer
A week before the NATO summit in London on December 3 and 4, Turkey offers a new reason for Western leaders to question its strategic choices and its place in the Alliance.
Since Monday, Turkey has been flying US fighter jets, F-16, over its capital, Ankara, to test Russian defense systems, the S-400. In other words, Russian-made radars, powered by Turkish and Russian personnel, assess the trajectories and performance of an American fighter in the skies of a NATO country.
The authorities have not officially confirmed the reason for the F-16 flights at low and high altitude, but several Turkish media provide, photos of radars in support, that this is the first test batteries S-400 that Turkey began to receive in July. The authorities believe that the system will be fully operational by April 2020.
The purchase of this Russian system by a NATO country raises concern and anger in the ranks of the Alliance , especially in the United States. Washington has already ruled Turkey out of the F-35 development program, which it helped to manufacture and ordered more than 100 aircraft. Ankara is also under threat from US economic sanctions.