TSAMTO, October 18. Turkey may purchase Russian Su-35 and Su-57 fighters if the US freezes the sale of F-16s after the F-35. This, as RIA Novosti reports, was stated by the head of the Department of Defense Industry of Turkey Ismail Demir.
As Dmitry Shugaev, director of the Federal Customs Service of Russia, told RIA Novosti earlier, Russia will negotiate with the Turkish side on Su-35 and Su-57 fighters if Ankara decides to buy them.
"If the process (the sale of the US F-16 and their modernization - ed.) does not bring results, then Turkey will not be left without alternatives. If necessary, the topic of Su-35 and Su-57 can be opened at any time. Our industry is doing everything to ensure our safety, and if something additional is needed, we can always find a way out," I. Demir said on the Kanal 7 TV channel.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that the United States offered his country to buy F-16 fighter jets after its exclusion from the program for the production of the latest F-35 fighter jets.
As the agency reminds, earlier the United States sent an official notification to Turkey about its exclusion from the F-35 production program due to Ankara's purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems. Earlier, Turkey undertook to buy 100 F-35 aircraft. She also participated in the production of more than 1 thousand components for them. As Turkish Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank told RIA Novosti earlier, Ankara continues to produce these components, despite the fact that the United States excluded it from this project.
