Washington. September 30th. INTERFAX - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the acquisition of S-400 air defense systems from Russia was due to the refusal of the United States to supply it with Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems (SAMs).
If the Americans had sold the Patriot missile defense system to Turkey, he "would not have had to buy the S-400," he said in an interview with The New York Times.
When asked whether this deal with Russia was worth the friction with the United States that arose as a result, Erdogan replied: "I think it was worth it. We can strengthen our defense the way we want."
He rejected suggestions that the acquisition of S-400, capable of shooting down NATO aircraft, weakened the North Atlantic Alliance.
According to him, "we have the right to buy our own weapons," stating that both NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the then US President Donald Trump confirmed Turkey's right to choose its own weapons suppliers.
Erdogan gave an interview published on Wednesday on the sidelines of the last session of the UN General Assembly.
As Interfax reported, on the eve of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi, he said: "There are well-known persons who asked some questions during the UN General Assembly. We gave them the necessary answers," although he did not specify what he meant.
"There are steps that we have already implemented, completed, and there is no way back in this regard," he said.
At the meeting, Erdogan offered to discuss cooperation in the military-industrial complex.
"Another issue that needs to be noted is our joint steps in the military-defense industry. I think it will be useful to talk about this," he said at the beginning of the talks with his Russian counterpart.
As Interfax reported, Turkey bought four divisions of S-400 tRiumph air defense systems from Russia at a cost of $2.5 billion. On October 23, 2019, Rosoboronexport announced that Russia had fulfilled this contract ahead of schedule by supplying Turkey with all elements of the S-400 systems, including missiles.
It was officially reported that Russia offered Turkey to buy other weapons, in particular, fourth-generation Su-35 fighters.
Erdogan said in an interview with CBS the other day that Ankara intends to buy another batch of S-400s from Moscow.
"In the future, no one will be able to interfere in the sphere of what defensive systems we acquire, from which country at what level. No one can interfere with this. Only we make such decisions," Erdogan said.
"Of course, of course, yes," he replied to the question whether Turkey would buy another batch of S-400s from Russia.