Turkey to Use Russia's S-400 Systems in Event of Missile Attack on Country - Erdogan

ANKARA, (Sputnik) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized renewed attempts to create a controversy around Turkey's acquisition of Russian S-400 missile systems, saying they were ready to be deployed in an event of an attack on the country just as intended.

"We see attempts to create a controversy over the S-400s purchased due to the need for a long-range air defence system in the region where uncertainty and threats have never abated. First of all, the most important point that should be kept in mind and well understood is that the issue of defence and security is an issue that should be kept out of daily politics, and it concerns 84 million people, the citizens of our country", Erdogan told reporters on his way back from an African tour.

He noted that the current Russian-Ukrainian crisis has proved that there is a need for such defensive systems.

"Whenever someone attacks our country with a missile, the system will be deployed. There is a rumour that the S-400 are waiting in a hangar. The S-400s are waiting where they need to wait. Of course, this is confidential information. We know that all the necessary preparations have been made to use this system when needed and that the process is going as it should," he added,

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.

The purchase of Russian air defence systems by Turkey, a NATO member, was met with fierce opposition by the US, which insisted on Ankara dropping the procurement contract. Washington insisted that the S-400s were a threat to the fifth-generation F-35 stealth fighter's secretes, as the system could purportedly send data about the novel aircraft to Moscow.

Turkey and Russia dismissed the allegations. Ankara insisted on keeping the S-400s and pointed out that it had been trying to buy Patriot systems from the US for years without success. The White House condemned Turkey's decision and halted the shipments of F-35 jets to Ankara, which Turkey had already paid for.