(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
The U.S. should readmit Ankara to a joint F-35 fighter jet
program and deliver Patriot missile defense systems to the country
“without conditions,” Turkish Presidential Communications Director
Fahrettin Altun has said, Trend reports citing Hurriyet Daily
News .
Altun penned an op-ed in the U.S. daily Wall Street Journal in
response to another opinion piece that suggested that“Turkey
should send Ukraine the Russian-made S-400 missile defense
systems.”
In his op-ed, headlined,“Turkey Says No Deal on S-400 for
Ukraine,” Altın said that while such a deal was“quite unrealistic
today, this idea presents an opportunity to discuss the problems
Turkey has experienced lately with the West.”
“Turkey, which views European Union membership as a strategic
objective and takes pride in its NATO membership, expects to be
treated by the West as it deserves. It would take
confidence-building measures, not so-called informal proposals, to
repair the relationship.”
Turkey paid $1.4 billion for the fighter jets, but Washington
took Ankara out of the program in 2019 because Turkey bought the
Russian S-400 defense system after its efforts to acquire U.S.
Patriot missiles were rebuffed.
The U.S. claimed the Russian system was a safety risk, but
Turkey maintained that the S-400 would pose no threat to NATO or
its armaments because it would not be integrated into the
alliance's systems.
Tags:
- Turkey
- US
- S-400
- Fahrettin Altun
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