Nato concern at Turkey’s deal to buy weapons from Russia

TURKEY has signed a deal for its first major weapons purchase from Moscow to buy S-400 missile defence systems, both sides announced yesterday, in a pact that could trouble Nato allies.

The purchase of the surface-to-air missile defence batteries – Ankara’s most significant deal with a non-nato supplier – comes with Turkey in the throes of a crisis in relations with several Western states.

“Signatures have been made for the purchase of S-400s from Russia. A deposit has also been paid as far as I know,” Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish president, said in comments published in several newspapers yesterday.

Moscow also confirmed the accord, with Vladimir Kozhin, an adviser to Vladimir Putin for military and technical co-operation, saying: “The contract has been signed and is being prepared for implementation.”

The purchase of the missile systems from a non-nato supplier is raising concerns in the West over their technical compatibility with the alliance’s equipment.

A Nato official said that interoperability was “fundamental” to the alliance for the conduct of joint missions.

“No Nato ally currently operates the S-400,” the official noted, adding that: “Nato has not been informed about the details of any purchase.”

But Mr Erdogan said Turkey, which has the second largest standing army in Nato after the United States, was free to make military acquisitions based on its defence needs.

“We make the decisions about our own independence ourselves, we are obliged to take safety and security measures in order to defend our country,” he said.