Ankara does not intend to transfer its S-400 systems to any country, including Ukraine, Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler said on Thursday.
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“We are not going to transfer our S-400 systems to anyone,” Guler answered in an interview with CNN Türk when asked whether there was a request to transfer the air defense system to Ukraine.
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In 2017, Turkey entered into a contract with Russia for the supply of the S-400 regimental kit, which it received in the summer-autumn of 2019. At the same time, the United States demanded that Russian systems be abandoned in favor of Patriot, but Ankara did not agree to this. As punishment, Washington excluded Turkey from the program to supply the latest F-35 fighter jets and imposed sanctions against leaders of the defense industry under the CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions) Act. The United States canceled the joint F-35 memorandum with Turkey, signing it with the seven remaining partners on the F-35 project – the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, Denmark, Canada and Norway.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan subsequently announced the US proposal to buy other fighters, but not the fifth, but the fourth generation – the F-16. In April last year, then Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that Ankara would receive back the money paid for the purchase of the F-35 from the United States.
