Turkey will not change course on buying the S-400 missile defense system from Russia, but the country could also accept a “good offer” on US Patriot missiles, the country’s president said Tuesday.
“WE ARE OPEN TO GOOD CONDITIONS”
“Changing course on Turkey’s deal to purchase the S-400s is ‘definitely’ out of the question,” Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told private channel NTV. “Regarding the Patriot issue, if you the US provide us good conditions, we are open to that as well. We have to work with alternatives,” Erdoğan stressed.
After protracted efforts to purchase air defense systems from the US with no success, Ankara decided in 2017 to buy Russia’s S-400 air defense system.
“IT’S WRONG TO INTRODUCE TURKEY AS AN ENEMY TO KURDISH PEOPLE”
Erdoğan also touched on comments by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Kurdish forces in Syria, saying they were wrong.
“All PKK-related groups are terrorist organizations,” he said, adding they can have Kurdish, French, German and Italian members. In other words, it is very wrong to be in efforts to introduce Turkey as an enemy of the Kurdish people because the PKK does not represent the Kurdish people.