Turkey's decision to buy the advanced Russian-made air defence system has led to a significant souring of relations with Washington, which has threatened to slap Ankara with sanctions and to deprive the country of the F-35 fighters it had already bought and paid for, Trend reports citing Sputnik.
The first batch of Turkey-bound S-400s will be loaded onto planes at a Russian military base this coming Sunday and sent to Turkey sometime next week, Haberturk TV has reported, citing unnamed sources.
According to the TV channel's information, the delivery will be made using two cargo planes, with a team of nine Russian engineers responsible for installing the system in Turkey to arrive in the country by Monday.
The delivery will bring one complete S-400 missile system to Turkey, Haberturk specified.
On Thursday, a spokesman for the Turkish president said Ankara would receive its Russian-made air defence systems "very soon, in the coming days," and promised that they "will be actively used." The spokesman added that authorities are still examining options about where the S-400s will be placed, with discussions previously held about deploying them in Qatar or Azerbaijan to avoid exacerbating Turkish-US tensions over the purchase. Authorities had originally discussed placing the air defence systems around the Turkish capital.
During their meeting in Osaka, Japan at the G20 summit last week, President Trump told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Washington treated Ankara 'unfairly' over its missile deal with Russia, blaming his predecessor Barack Obama for refusing to supply Turkey with its Patriot missile systems ahead of time. "You have to treat people fairly…and I don't think he was treated fairly," Trump said.