Turkey proposes a working group for the S-400 in the United States

Turkey reiterated today its proposal to the United States to establish a “technical working group”, with the participation of NATO, to resolve the dispute with Washington, on the occasion of Ankara’s purchase of the Russian anti-aircraft system S-400.

Relations between the two NATO allies intensified last year, prompting Washington to threaten Turkey with sanctions and suspend its participation in the next-generation F-35 fighter jet production program. The United States says the S-400 is incompatible with NATO systems and threatens Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Stealth technology. Ankara, meanwhile, has rejected the claim, saying that the Russian system will not be part of the North Atlantic Alliance defense system.

However, before the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, Turkey’s bilateral relations with Russia were severely damaged, as Moscow supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s military operation in the northwestern city of Idlib. from Syria. In early March, as clashes between Syrian government forces with the Turkish army and Syrian rebels continued, Ankara turned to the United States for help to provide ammunition and humanitarian aid to the hundreds of thousands of displaced people to escape. Conflicts Since then, both Turkey and the United States have been silent on the S-400 issue. Turkey has previously stated that the Russian system would be operational in April, but so far there is no indication.

Speaking in a conference call at an Atlantic Council event, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlτt Çavuşoγlu said today that his country’s stance on solving the problem had not changed. “We have proposed in the United States to establish a technical working group with the participation of NATO, and in fact, NATO may be the head of this working group.” And that proposal remains on the table, “he said.

The Turkish minister reiterated that his country is willing to buy the Patrito system from the United States if it is offered a good deal. Washington has repeatedly stated that it has no plans to supply the system to Turkey unless it reconsiders its stance on the S-400s.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Washington last November and met with his US counterpart Donald Trump, with whom he agreed to establish a task force, but no significant progress has been made so far.