S-400 Air Defense System Deliveries Turkey's Internal Affair, Erdogan Says

ANKARA (Sputnik) - Deliveries of Russian S-400 air defence systems are an internal affair of Turkey, they are not negative toward NATO, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

"The agreement on the acquisition of Russian S-400 air defence systems by Ankara is an important step in terms of developing cooperation between Turkey and Russia. Russian systems are very important... Deliveries are an internal affair of Turkey. This is our decision. We made this decision, we agreed with Russia. From the NATO point of view, this step does not carry any negative meaning," Erdogan said at a meeting with Turkish youth in Trabzon.

Russia and Turkey signed a contract for the supply of four S-400 air defence system battalions worth $2.5 billion in 2017, deliveries to the Turkish side were made in the summer and fall of 2019.

The contract included an option for another regimental set. At the end of August 2021, Erdogan said that he had no doubts about buying a second S-400 regiment from Russia.

Turkey caused a rift with the US, its NATO ally, when it bought Russian-made S-400 air defence systems. The United States cancelled the sale of F-35 jets to Turkey in 2019 over claims that it could leak military secrets to Russia. The Kremlin and Ankara have both strongly rejected such a possibility.