Turkey warns US of retaliation if sale of arms is suspended

Turkey will retaliate if the US enacts a law that would halt weapons sales to Ankara, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said yesterday.

Legislators in the US House of Representatives released details on Friday of a $717 billion (Dh2.633 trillion) annual defence policy bill, including a measure to temporarily stop weapons sales to Turkey.

Mr Cavusoglu told CNN that the measures in the bill were wrong, illogical and inappropriate for Nato allies.

“If the US imposes sanctions on us or takes such a step, Turkey will absolutely retaliate,” Mr Cavusoglu said. “What needs to be done is the US needs to let go of this.”

The proposed US National Defence Authorisation Act, which is several steps from becoming law, would ask the defence department to provide Congress with a report on the relationship between the US and Turkey, and block the sale of major defence equipment until the report was complete.

Turkey plans to buy more than 100 of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets, and is in talks with Washington over Patriot missiles.

Turkey signed an agreement with Russia in December to buy S-400 surface-to-air missile batteries as part of Ankara’s plans to boost its defence forces amid threats from Kurdish and other militants at home, and conflicts across its borders in Syria and Iraq.

The move to buy S-400s, which are incompatible with Nato systems, has unnerved the bloc’s member countries that were already wary of Moscow’s military presence in the Middle East. This has prompted officials to warn Turkey of consequences.

Mr Cavusoglu dismissed the warnings, saying Turkey’s relations with Russia were not an alternative to its ties with the West and accused the US of trying to control Ankara.

“Turkey is not a country under your orders, it is an independent country,” he said. “Speaking to such a country from above, dictating what it can and cannot buy, is not a correct approach and does not fit our alliance.”

Relations between Ankara and Washington have been strained over many issues, including US policy in Syria and legal cases against Turkish and US nationals.

Last month, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Mr Cavusoglu that the US was concerned over Ankara’s decision to buy the Russian S-400 missile batteries. Mr Cavusoglu said he would visit the US next week to meet Mr Pompeo.

Dictating what Turkey can and cannot buy is not a correct approach and does not fit our alliance

MEVLUT CAVUSOGLU Turkish foreign minister