Erdogan dismisses NATO fears over Russia missile deal

ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday dismissed NATO allies’ concerns over Turkey’s deal to buy a missile defense system from Russia and said Ankara would continue to take the security measures it thought right.

Russia said it was preparing to ship its S-400 anti-ballistic missile system to Turkey.

Erdogan said a deposit had already been paid to Russia. “If we’re having issues in acquiring certain defense instruments and our attempts are met with obstacles, we’ll take care of ourselves,” he said, alluding to difficulties Turkey has faced in purchasing armed drones from allied countries.

Prof. Mustafa Kibaroglu, director of the Center for International Security Studies and Strategic Research at MEF University in Istanbul, told Arab News that Turkey, despite being a NATO member, is not obligated to buy military equipment from a particular group of countries, and Russia is a legitimate supplier.

Can Kasapoglu, a defense analyst at the Istanbul-based Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies, told Arab News that diversification of Ankara’s military cooperation portfolio and procurement gives Turkey resilience in the face of diplomatic fluctuations.

Elli Kytomaki, an arms control expert and analyst at SaferGlobe, a Finnish think-tank, told Arab News: “The US has raised concerns over the purchase, but it doesn’t seem to be a deal-breaker or a cause for sanctions by NATO or Turkey’s other Western allies, such as the EU.”