Turkish officials said that any sanctions against their country “will not be left unanswered”
By TASS
Turkey has rejected the US’ demand for cancelation of the purchase of the S-400 surface-to-air missile systems from Russia at the talks between Ankara and Washington, Turkey’s Hurriyet daily said on Thursday citing diplomatic sources with a knowledge of the issue.
At the talks, US officials demanded that Turkey, a NATO member, should terminate the S-400 deal with Russia, warning that it might trigger sanctions against Turkey. Turkish officials responded with a resolute no to the demand. They said S-400 will be bought since Turkey needs them and added that any sanctions against their country “will not be left unanswered”, the daily says.
“Following Turkey’s firm stance on the purchase of these systems, US officials hinted that ‘Turkey should not use the S-400s even if it does buy them from Russia,’ while Turkish diplomatic sources said this was not a realistic expectation,” Hurriyet said.
Nevertheless, Ankara suggested joint work with the United States so that they can prevent any possible consequences of the S-400 deployment and to “address U.S. concerns on the safety of NATO aircrafts.”
In addition, the talks focused on the US offer to sell its Patriot air defense systems to Turkey. The Turkish negotiators said that their country could buy Patriots but under condition that the Trump administration would get approval at the US Congress.
In May, the US House of Representatives passed the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. The bill includes a measure that will keep Turkey from purchasing American weapons without a special report on Ankara’s agreement to buy S-400 surface-to-air missile systems.
In November 2016, news broke that Russia and Turkey were in talks on the purchase of S-400 missile systems. In September 2017, Russia confirmed that the contract had been signed, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the advance payment had been made. Turkey will become the first NATO member-state that will get Russia’s S-400. The number of systems it will receive has not been revealed.
Russia’s S-400 Triumf (NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler) is the latest long-range antiaircraft missile system that went into service in 2007. It is designed to destroy aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, including medium-range missiles, and surface targets. The system can hit aerodynamic targets at a range of up to 400 kilometers (249 miles) and tactical ballistic targets flying at a speed of 4.8 km/s (3 mi/s) at a distance of up to 60 kilometers (37 miles). Such targets include cruise missiles, tactical and strategic aircraft and ballistic missile warheads.
The system’s radars detect aerial targets at a distance of up to 600 kilometers (373 miles). The system’s 48N6E3 surface-to-air missiles can hit aerodynamic targets at altitudes of 10,000-27,000 meters and ballistic threats at altitudes of 2,000-25,000 meters.
