Istanbul. September 23. INTERFAX-Relations between Turkey and the United States are currently experiencing difficult times, including due to problems with Ankara's acquisition of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems from the Russian Federation, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters.
"Honestly, I can't say that there is a healthy trend in Turkish-American relations. We bought F-35 fighter-bombers... and these F-35s were not delivered to us. They did not give us the F-35, using the S-400 as an excuse," the Sabah newspaper quotes Erdogan as saying.
"It is impossible for us to accept that they constantly bother us with the C-400. For us, the dispute over the S-400 is over. We cannot take a step back from here, " the president stressed.
He noted that Ankara is ready to conduct positive cooperation with the United States through NATO. Erdogan also said that the trade turnover of the two countries is $20 billion, and Ankara would like to increase it even more.
At the same time, Erdogan stated that, despite good relations with a number of previous US presidents, he cannot say that he got along with Joe Biden after he took the presidential post.
"They should also know that the old Turkey no longer exists. The current Turkey is a different Turkey, " Erdogan said.
In addition, he criticized the process of withdrawing the US contingent from Afghanistan and said that Washington should not expect Turkey to accept Afghan refugees.
"It's the US that has to pay the price here," he said.
He added that Turkey wants to form an inclusive government in Afghanistan, but "only limited signals"are received from the current authorities of the country about this.
The United States has repeatedly expressed concern about Turkey's acquisition of the S-400, because it believed that Russia could use these systems to obtain information about the fifth-generation F-35 fighter-bombers. In addition, the Pentagon stated that Turkey should return the S-400 air defense system to Russia if Ankara wants to receive Patriot missile systems from the United States.
Washington excluded Ankara from the F-35A production program immediately after Turkey acquired the S-400.
At the end of August, Erdogan stated that Ankara was ready to purchase a second regiment of S-400 air defense systems from Russia.
On August 25, the head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, Dmitry Shugaev, said that negotiations with Turkey on a new contract for the S-400 are in the final stage. Earlier in the day, the head of Rosoboronexport, Alexander Mikheev, said that a contract for the supply of an additional batch of S-400 air defense systems to Turkey could be signed this year.