Turkey will retaliate if the United States imposes sanctions over its purchase of Russian S-400 missile defense systems, the country’s Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said Monday.
Speaking in an interview with TGRT News, Cavusoglu said such sanctions would be "unacceptable. We will take retaliatory measures in case of a hostile adversary attitude. This is neither a threat nor a bluff.”
The first parts of the S-400 air defense system were delivered to Turkey earlier this month, sealing Turkey’s deal with Russia, which Washington had struggled for months to prevent.
Washington says the S-400 poses a threat to the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 stealthy fighters, which Turkey was also planning to buy. The US also believes the S-400 sale is part of Russian efforts to disrupt the alliance amid Western concern over Erdogan's burgeoning relationship with Putin.
The United States later announced it was removing Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program in the wake of Ankara accepting the delivery of the S-400.
Asked about the US decision to remove Turkey from the F-35 stealth fighter jet program, Cavusoglu said that if Turkey does not receive the 100 aircraft it ordered, Ankara "will meet its demands from other sources until it produces its own."
Turkish officials insist that the deal to purchase the S-400 does not affect the security of the US and have repeatedly stressed that they will go ahead with the deal despite Washington’s objections.
