Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 20
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Turkey won’t abandon the purchase of Russian S-400 surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), Turkish Undersecretary for Defense Industries Ismail Demir said, Trend reports via Turkish media.
He said that Turkey will receive Russian SAMs in July this year.
He noted that the SAMs will be fully installed in Turkey by October 2019.
Regarding the acquisition of the US Patriot SAMs, Demir said that Ankara and Washington are negotiating on the issue.
On Jan. 17, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the delivery of the Patriot SAMs to the Turkish Armed Forces is linked to a number of issues.
Cavusoglu pointed out that one of such issues is the date of delivery of the US SAMs, with the other being the possibility of their purchase through a loan.
He pointed out that Turkey also intends to organize production of the American Patriot SAMs, as agreed with Russia, which also intends to supply the Turkish Air Force with its S-400 SAMs.
The initial reports of negotiations between Russia and Turkey regarding the S-400 came in November 2016. The signing of a contract was confirmed by the Russian side on Sept. 12, 2017.
Turkey is the first NATO member to acquire SAMs of such type from Russia.
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