Turkey Deems Unacceptable Demands Not to Use S-400 Missiles Purchased from Russia: Cavusoglu

Turkey considers the demands from other countries not to use the S-400 missile defense systems purchased from Russia as unacceptable. This was stated today by Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, according to TASS.

"The S-400s will be 100% under our control. We sent our technical experts for training, and there will be no Russian military experts in Turkey. Therefore, the demands from other countries to 'not use' them are unacceptable," TRT quoted Cavusoglu as saying.

Meanwhile, on May 28, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Wendy Sherman stated in an interview with CNN Türk that the U.S. had presented alternatives to Turkey regarding its acquisition of the Russian S-400 missile defense systems. However, she did not specify what the alternatives were.

Russia and Turkey signed a contract in 2017 for the supply of S-400 anti-aircraft defense systems from Moscow to Ankara. Ankara's decision has drawn severe negative reactions from the U.S. and NATO as a whole. The U.S. continues to attempt to force Turkey to abandon the Russian air defense systems.

Considering that Turkey does not yield to pressure and does not part with the S-400s, Washington previously excluded Ankara from the American program for the production of fifth-generation F-35 fighter-bombers. Additionally, the United States has long threatened Turkey with a series of unilateral sanctions for the purchase of the S-400s, but has been hesitant to implement these measures as they feared escalating tensions with a key NATO ally; while Ankara warned that it would not leave such restrictions unanswered.