Washington's Obstacles in Military Cooperation With Ankara Affect NATO Security, Erdogan Says

ANKARA (Sputnik) - Obstacles in defense cooperation between Turkey and the United States affect the security of NATO, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.

"Artificial obstacles to our defense cooperation with the US, which are contrary to the allied law, also negatively affect NATO security landscape," Erdogan told a meeting of the Turkish-US Business Council in New York.

The president noted that the biased attitude that has developed as a result of pressure from certain lobbies on decision-makers also harms the American interests."

In the meantime, Erdogan said that Turkey is seeking to increase the volume of gas purchased from the US.

"We would like to increase the volume of gas we buy from the US on more favorable terms in the coming period. We are ready to cooperate on the delivery of US liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the countries of the region," Erdogan said.

Turkey's main gas suppliers now are Russia, Azerbaijan, and Iran.

The US has earlier sent an official notice to Turkey about its exclusion from the program for the supply of advanced F-35 fighter jets due to Ankara's purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems. Washington canceled the joint memorandum on the F-35 with Turkey, signing it with the seven remaining partners in the F-35 project - the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, Denmark, Canada, and Norway. Erdogan subsequently said the US invited Ankara to buy other fighters, but of the fourth generation - F-16. The issue is to be agreed upon in the US Congress - the State Department is lobbying for it, convincing congressmen that the deal is in Washington's interest.