Turkey signals intention to buy Russian weapons system, against wishes of NATO
Turkey’s intention to purchase the Russian- made S- 400 air defense system may leave its NATO allies with the feeling that Ankara is drifting away from the West, analysts told Xinhua.
“Such a move would be perceived as getting away from NATO,” said Haldun Solmazturk, a retired army general in the Turkish military.
The deal over Russia’s sophisticated S- 400 system is at the final stage now, with only some details remaining to be settled, according to latest statements from Turkish and Russian officials.
If finalized, the deal may send out a message that Turkey is moving away from NATO, remarked Celalettin Yavuz, a security policy analyst from Is- tanbul Ayvansaray University.
Reports of the deal being close to be done appeared one after another in the Turkish media last week.
The negotiations for the long- range S- 400 missiles that started last year are about to be concluded in a positive way, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik told reporters last Tuesday. He underlined, however, that it would be wrong to say the deal is done before the final signatures are put.
Solmazturk feels that Isik’s remarks may imply that Turkey could give up shopping the Russian system in the end, while remarks by a high- level Russian official on Wednesday raised doubts about the deal as well.
“Despite having reached an agreement in principle, our negotiations with Turkey about the S- 400 are going on,” Dmitry Shugayev, director of the Federal Service for MilitaryTechnical Cooperation, was quoted as saying by Sputnik.
Under US and NATO pressure, Turkey backed away in 2015 from a deal with a Chinese firm for the supply of an air defense system.
“Buying an air defense system from Russia would be a historic move,” Solmazturk stated, noting the air defense system is the one area in which integration among NATO countries is the highest priority.
If the deal is concluded, Turkey would be increasingly seen by NATO as an outsider despite being officially part of the defense bloc, he maintained.
NATO and the US flatly reject the integration of a foreign air defense unit to NATO’s radar system. Turkey said the Russian system will not be incorporated into the NATO defense system.
US Secretary of Defense James Mattis underlined at a press meeting last week that the Russian system would not be interoperable with the NATO systems.
“We’ll have to see, does it ( the deal) go through? Do they ( the Turks) actually employ it? Do they employ it only in one area?” he said.
Turkey awarded its first tender for a long- range air defense system to a Chinese firm in 2013, criticizing its grumbling NATO partners for failing to include transfer of technol- ogy and requesting for a higher price in their own bids for the tender.
“The US would be disturbed by the Russian sale of weapons to Turkey,” said Yavuz, a retired captain in the Turkish Navy. “It may also try to exert pressure over Turkey.”
Turkey’s ties with some of its NATO partners, including the US and Germany, have been strained in recent years, as Ankara accuses them of hosting terrorists or providing weapons to them.