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Turkey could be subject to US sanctions if it doesn’t back out from the purchase of S-400 missile defense systems from Russia, US State Department spokesperson Robert Palladino said in a press briefing.
“QUESTION: I have a question on Turkey’s plans to purchase the S-400. How does that stand now, and what will you do if they go ahead with that?
MR PALLADINO: Yeah. We’ve spoken about that before here, Laurie, and the position hasn’t changed. We’ve long made it clear we would like to work collaboratively on air and missile defense with Turkey, and we have offered opportunities for Turkey to consider Patriot among other systems over the years. We’ve also made it clear to Turkey that we have very serious concerns with its stated plans to proceed with the acquisition of the Russian S-400 missile defense system.
We’ve clearly warned Turkey that its potential acquisition of the S-400 will result in a reassessment of Turkey’s participation in the F-35 program and risk other potential future arm transfers to Turkey, as well as lead to potential sanctions under Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, CAATSA, upon any government entities, private industry, or individuals that are involved in such a transaction.”
On March 6th, Deputy Assistant Secretary Matthew Palmer met with Turkish officials in another effort to block Ankara’s procurement of the S-400. That attempt also met little success.
“I would hope that they [Ankara] reconsider this one decision on S-400,” U.S. General Curtis Scaparrotti told the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 5th.
Scaparrotti warned that the sale poses a threat to American systems used by Turkey, “it’s a problem for all of our aircraft, but specifically the F-35, I believe.”
Additionally, on March 4th, in a statement, US Pentagon spokesman Nick Pahon warned that “Turkey’s acquisition of the Russian S-400 air-defense system will have grave consequences for the U.S. defense relationship with Turkey.”
The decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to remove Turkey’s designation under GSP for import benefits is also speculated to be a warning to Ankara.
“It is clear that the general tendency in Washington, D.C., is to punish Turkey for perceived misconduct, which remains a significant threat to the Turkish economy,” said Atilla Yesilada of Global Securities.
Regardless, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated his commitment to buy the Russian system. In a television interview on March 6th, he indicated interest in expanding the purchase to Russia’s more advanced S-500 system.
“We concluded the S-400 issue, signed a deal with the Russians, and will start co-production,” Erdogan said. “Later, we may work with S-500s.”
Turkish outlet Daily Sabah also published a report on the possible use of the F-35 and Patriot defense systems as bargaining chips.
In essence, the report claimed that US refuses to hear Turkish officials claims that the S-400 is no threat to any NATO systems and that the relations Turkey has with Russia are separate with those that it has with the US.
These developments and warnings follow Turkey’s decision to reject the possible purchase of US-made Patriot surface-to-air missile systems on February 22nd.
“In parallel to the Patriot negotiations, Washington increases pressure on Ankara for the cancellation of its deal with Russia on the procurement of the S-400 air missile defense systems on the grounds that the system risks NATO security both on political and technical grounds.
In the past few weeks, Washington has been carrying on with a silent diplomacy for its accelerated pressure on Ankara for the cancellation of the S-400 deal. In the latest move, last week, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence conveyed the U.S.’s concerns to Ankara on behalf of President Donald Trump and asked Turkey to abort its S-400 purchase,” Hurriyet reported then
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