The U.S. must choose between remaining Turkey's ally and siding with terrorists, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said Wednesday, Trend reported citing Daily Sabah.
"The United States must choose. Does it want to remain Turkey's ally or risk our friendship by joining forces with terrorists to undermine its NATO ally's defense against its enemies?" Oktay said on Twitter.
Oktay's remarks came in response to U.S. Vice President Mike Pence after he urged Turkey on Wednesday not to buy a Russian S-400 anti-missile system, keeping up the pressure on its NATO ally to abandon the purchase that Washington considers a threat to U.S. military equipment.
"Turkey must choose. Does it want to remain a critical partner in the most successful military alliance in history or does it want to risk the security of that partnership by making such reckless decisions that undermine our alliance?" Pence said in remarks at a NATO event in Washington.
The United States is at an inflection point in a yearslong standoff with Turkey, a NATO ally, after failing to sway President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that buying a Russian air defense system would compromise the security of F-35 aircraft.