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Turkey Challenges US as Russian Missiles Arrive

Dorian Jones

   ISTANBUL - Updated: July 12, 2019, 1:37 p.m.

   Russia is delivering its S-400 missile system to Turkey, a move that
   threatens to rupture Turkish-U.S. relations and puts Russian military
   technology inside a key NATO alliance member.

   A Russian transport jet Friday brought the first delivery of the $2.2
   billion missile system to a Turkish military air base outside Ankara,
   causing concern from Brussels to Washington.

   Washington says the S-400, with its advanced radar that could
   potentially be used to target NATO jets, threatens to compromise NATO
   military systems in Turkey. The United States has ruled out delivery of
   its latest F-35 jet if the Russia missiles are deployed, and Turkish
   firms face being frozen out of the consortium that is building the
   F-35.

     Video shared by Turkish Ministry of Defense, Friday, July 12, showed
     parts of S-400 missile defense system being unloaded from Russian
     cargo planes.[1]https://t.co/2ZirwOYUrV
     [2]pic.twitter.com/pzxNyj4AJF
     -- The Voice of America (@VOANews) [3]July 12, 2019

   "We are aware of Turkey taking delivery of the S-400. Our position
   regarding the F-35 has not changed, and I will speak with my Turkish
   counterpart Minister Akar this afternoon," Acting U.S. Secretary of
   Defense Mark Esper told reporters Friday.

   U.S. State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus warned Tuesday of
   "real and negative consequences" if the Russian missiles are procured.

   Possible sanctions

   Potentially more damaging for Turkey are U.S. sanctions under the
   Countering America's Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which
   could hit Turkey's already weakened economy.

   Ankara is relying on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's
   relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump. Last month, the two
   presidents met in Japan on the sidelines of the G-20 summit of the
   world's largest economies. At the time, Trump acknowledged the U.S. had
   a "complicated" situation, when it came to responding to Turkey, and
   noted that possible sanctions were being discussed.

   International relations expert Soli Ozel of Istanbul's Kadir Has
   University points out that, with both Democrats and Republicans united
   in Congress on taking a tough stance against Turkey on the S-400, he
   thinks Ankara is miscalculating.

   "If Congress says CAATSA takes effect, can Trump really say, 'I will
   not be implementing it?' He can, but can he get away with it? I don't
   think so. But that is what Ankara believes, and is the thread they are
   hanging onto. I don't know where analysis ends and wishful thinking
   begins with this administration," Ozel said.

References

   1. https://t.co/2ZirwOYUrV
   2. https://t.co/pzxNyj4AJF
   3. https://twitter.com/VOANews/status/1149698288289009665?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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