Turkey issued notices banning entry to airspace and waters off its Black Sea coast, to allow apparently tests of firing weapons on Friday, including Russian-made S-400 missile defense units, a week after they were transferred to the region.
And while Ankara has already tested the surface-to-air missile system last year, further exercises could stoke tensions with the United States, its NATO partner, which has strongly opposed the purchase of the system from Moscow on the grounds that the S-400s threaten the alliance's defense systems. .
Washington responded last year by suspending Turkey's participation in the F-35 program and threatening sanctions.
The lira remains near an all-time low since videos in local newspapers last week showed that S-400s had been moved north from sites near Ankara.
The Turkish airspace notice prohibits flying in an area near the coastal city of Sinop to conduct a radar test and possibly live fire for six hours on October 16.
Aircraft are advised to avoid the area up to an altitude of 200,000 feet (61,000 meters).
This week, Turkey issued a naval notice for shooting training and two other military training notices.
The notices said that shooting training would take place on October 16 and 17.
The S-400 surface-to-air missile defense system is one of the most advanced in the world, equipped with medium to long-range radar that can detect and track incoming aircraft and direct a barrage of missiles at its targets to a range of up to 400 kilometers.
Turkey signed the S-400 deal with Russia in 2017. It began receiving its first 4 missile batteries worth $ 2.5 billion in July of last year, and Ankara has previously conducted radar tests, but the test fire will be the first.
After videos of the S-400s surfaced and reports of the planned tests surfaced, last week two US senators again called on President Donald Trump's administration to impose sanctions on Turkey.