Turkey Warns West It Will Continue to Shop Around for Missiles
Turkey said it would continue to turn to other providers of air-defense weapons if traditional western allies fail to deliver, suggesting the rancor prompted by Ankara’s decision to buy Russian missiles may be repeated.
The Turkish military needs upgrades far beyond the scope of its current purchase of an advanced S-400 system from Moscow, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in an interview on Thursday.
“If you don’t want me to buy it from elsewhere, then you need to sell it,” Cavusoglu said. “If you don’t, we’ll continue to buy from elsewhere. Today, this can be the S-400. Tomorrow, there will be another system. It doesn’t matter.”
The comments are the most forthright statement so far of Ankara’s intention to substantially upgrade its air-defense capabilities, even at the cost of further inflaming ties with its partners in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. While there’s already an outline deal with Russia for a second S-400 battery that would be jointly produced, the minister signaled Turkey won’t stop there.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-04/turkey-warns-west-it-will-continue-to-shop-around-for-missiles
