Turkey says it’s unafraid of US sanctions over S-400 deal

Turkey says Monday it does not fear US sanctions over its decision to buy a Russian missile defense system that has frayed ties between the NATO allies.

The United States has given Turkey a deadline of July 31 to drop the purchase of the S-400 system, or face sanctions and removal from its F-35 fighter jet program.

“Regardless of whatever sanctions there may be, whatever the messages from America, we’ve bought the S-400,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tells reporters in Ankara.

He says Turkey is working on the date for the system’s delivery, which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said would be in the first half of July.

“If there’s an attack on Turkey tomorrow, we cannot expect NATO to protect us because NATO’s capacity would only protect 30 percent of Turkey’s airspace,” Cavusoglu says.

Turkey will no longer allow other countries to dictate its defense purchases, he says.

Relations between Washington and Ankara have deteriorated over multiple issues, including the S-400 deal and US support for a Syrian Kurdish militia viewed as terrorists by Turkey.

— AFP