Turkey tests S-400, defies sanctions | World Defense

Turkey tests S-400, defies sanctions

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Turkey Tests F-16s And F-4s Against S-400 Radars In Defiance Of U.S. Sanctions Threats
The U.S. government has called on its Turkish counterparts for months to not "activate" the radars and abandon the purchase altogether.
BY JOSEPH TREVITHICKNOVEMBER 25, 2019
A Turkish F-16 flies past radars associated with the country's S-400 air defense system during a test on Nov. 25, 2019.
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Turkey has begun tests of the radars associated with its new Russian S-400s using American-made F-16 Viper and F-4 Phantom II fighters, defying warnings from the United States that this "activation" of the surface-to-air missile systems could prompt new sanctions. U.S. officials had been concerned that the Turkish military might conduct exactly these sorts of tests with the F-35, potentially giving Russia insights into the jets' capabilities, an issue that remains at the center of the spat over Ankara's deal with Moscow to buy the air defense system in the first place. The Pentagon already ejected Turkey from the Joint Strike Fighter program earlier this year and is finalizing efforts to remove Turkish defense contractors from the supply chain, as well.
Turkey's Ankara Governorate announced the tests on Nov. 24, 2019. The S-400s are presently based at Murted Air Base, which is situated just outside the Turkish capital. The testing, which began today, is scheduled to continue through Nov. 26. Russia began delivering components of the air defense systems in July. Reports have indicated that the Turkish S-400s may be fully operational by April 2020.





U.S. REVIEWING OPTIONS FOR PULLING NUCLEAR BOMBS OUT OF TURKEY, HERE'S HOW THEY MIGHT DO ITBy Joseph TrevithickPosted in THE WAR ZONE
"Within the scope of some projects carried out in coordination with the Presidency of Defense Industries, F-16 aircraft and other aircraft belonging to the [Turkish] Air Force will carry out low and high altitude test flights on Monday and Tuesday in the skies of Ankara," an official statement from Governorate said. There are no details yet on the exact test objectives.

However, video footage of the tests so far show F-16s and F-4s flying over Murted and examples of the 91N6E surveillance and acquisition radar and the 96L6E air search and acquisition radar, the latter elevated on an 40V6M mast, clearly in operation below. The mast-mounted version of the 96L6E is also designed to be better able to detect low-flying targets that a radar positioned right on the ground might not be able to detect through the surface clutter.



XXVII@XXVII27_

https://twitter.com/XXVII27_/status/1198951442171809792

S-400 Triumf HSS'nin bugün Ankara'da başlayan ve 2 gün sürecek testlerinden görüntüler.

Çalışmalarda alçak ve yüksek uçuş yapan F-16'lar arasındaki radar bağlantısı test ediliyor.

91N6E radar platformu, 40V6M-R direği ve 96L6e alçak/orta/yüksek irtifa tespit radarı görülüyor.

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6:07 AM - Nov 25, 2019
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These initial tests may just be to ensure that the radars are working properly or to see if they can adequately distinguish Turkish aircraft as friendlies. U.S. military officials, as well as those from other NATO members, have previously warned that the S-400 does not meet the alliance's interoperability requirements and therefore would not be able to be integrated with other allied air defense networks during an actual crisis. This, in turn, creates the risk that the Russian surface-to-air missile system might not be able to properly tell friendly and hostile aircraft apart when it matters most.


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RIA NOVOSTI
A diagram showing various typical S-400 battalion components, including the 91N6E and 96L6E radars, as well as the 40V6M mast system.
Whether or not these tests, or additional evaluations in the future, are collecting data on how jets, such a the F-16, appear on the S-400's radars is unclear. The 92N6E fire control radar is notably absent from the pictures and video of the tests, as well.
The United States had feared that the air defense system could gather detailsabout the F-35's stealth signature, or other information about that aircraft's capabilities, which Russian technicians assisting Turkey could then have potentially relayed back to the Kremlin. The U.S. government's position has been and remains that Turkey can have either the S-400 or the F-35, but not both.


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TURKISH MINISTRY OF DEFENSE
A Turkish Air Force Block 50 F-16C Viper. At least one of these aircraft took part in the tests of the S-400 radars.
Whatever the case, the testing of the S-400 radars, and doing so with American-made aircraft, sends a defiant message to the United States and makes clear that Turkey, and its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has no intention of giving up the air defense system, at least any time soon. It also dares U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration, as well as Congress, to act in regards to sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAASTA.
Unless Turkey were to get a waiver, this law requires the U.S. government to take significant action against its Turkish counterparts over the purchase of the Russian-made system. However, the White House and members of Congress have deferred on this repeatedly, suggesting they would only act if Turkey "activated" the S-400's radars. This was clearly meant to provide room for Ankara to reverse course and abandon the purchase, keeping open a potential path for the country to rejoin the F-35 program.
"Turkey’s acquisition of sophisticated Russian military equipment, such as the S-400, creates some very serious challenges for us, and we are talking about it constantly," Trump had said alongside Erdogan during the latter's visit to Washington, D.C. earlier in November. "We talked about it today. We’re talking about it in the future. Hopefully, we’ll be able to resolve that situation."


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YURI GRIPAS/ABACA/SIPA USA VIA AP IMAGES
U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shake hands during a press conference in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 13, 2019.
Now that Turkey has "activated" the radars, members of Congress may increasingly call for Trump to act in accordance with CAASTA or take additional steps themselves. There has already been something of a backlashto the Turkish government among American legislators following Turkey's launching an intervention into northern Syria aimed primarily at Kurdish groups, including U.S.-backed forces, in October 2019. Turkish-backed Syrian forces stand accused of numerous atrocities since then. Ankara subsequently cut a deal with Moscow to create a buffer zone along the Syrian-Turkish border, as well.
Around the time of Erdogan's visit, Congress had also looked set to pass a resolution acknowledging the Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman Empire, a move that deeply angered Turkey. Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and prominent supporter of Trump, blocked it, reportedly at the direction of the president.
The Trump Administration is clearly concerned that criticism of Turkey's human rights record in Syria and hitting Ankara with CAASTA sanctions, among other things, could scuttle attempts to negotiate a solution to the S-400 issue, as well as a new bilateral trade deal. At the same time, it's unclear if these moves will actually sway the increasingly dictatorial Erdogan to shift his positions on any issues.
When it comes to the S-400s and CAASTA, Turkey is now reportedly in talks with Russia about buying some number of Su-35 Flanker-E fighter jets, another move that could prompt sanctions and further inflame tensions with the United States, as well as the rest of NATO. Erdogan has already said that his country plans to cut deals with the Russians about manufacturing components of the new S-500 air defense system and the Kremlin has also repeatedly offered to sell Su-57 advanced combat jets to the Turkish Air Force as alternatives to the F-35.





By most indications, Ergodan continues to move closer and closer into Russia's sphere of influence. The S-400 tests only further underscore this reality, despite recent reports that Turkey has been upset with Russia over its implementation of their agreement regarding patrolling the Syrian border.
With the new tests of the S-400 radars, Turkey seems well past the point of no return with regards to the F-35 program, at least for the foreseeable future. It's a decision that only increases the likelihood of the U.S. government imposing serious sanctions on Turkey, which could prompt a further chill in relations between Washington and Ankara, in general, in the near term.
 

Scorpion

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Erdogan arrogance is going to destroy Turkey and turns the country into another Iran in the region.
 

Falcon29

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I was thinking that same thing, and they need to be kicked out of NATO

NATO is not what it used it to be. US is taking a more independent lead and most NATO members don't want to follow all of the US's steps in the Middle East. Like raising tensions with Iran. Moving forward there will be a bigger rift between US side of NATO and EU led side. US presence in Middle East is all about helping Israel gain absolute advantage over the region. US is choosing to give supremacy of region to 7 million Jews while disregarding the remaining hundreds of millions of non-Jews in the Middle East.

If the US continues the bizarre policy of giving Israel everything it want, then people of region will look at Israel as a problem and confront it in future. Afterwards US options will be very bad. Either destroy the world for 7 million Jews or be civilized and allow for peace in the region. Most Americans just want to leave the region be and live normal lives but they have no say in politics.
 

Falcon29

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Erdogan arrogance is going to destroy Turkey and turns the country into another Iran in the region.

Scorpion it's a two way street. Turkey was being threatened a lot since the Gaza flotilla incident with Israel. And then they asked the US for specific air defense system and we rejected selling it to them. So no surprise they went for Russian weapons. Either way I'm sure US would not have delivered the F35 to Turkey because Israel doesn't want it.
 

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Scorpion it's a two way street. Turkey was being threatened a lot since the Gaza flotilla incident with Israel. And then they asked the US for specific air defense system and we rejected selling it to them. So no surprise they went for Russian weapons. Either way I'm sure US would not have delivered the F35 to Turkey because Israel doesn't want it.

THE TALE OF TURKEY AND THE PATRIOTS
JIM TOWNSEND AND RACHEL ELLEHUUS
JULY 22, 2019
COMMENTARY
Patriot-missiles-Turkey.jpg

Watching the current trajectory of the U.S.-Turkish relationship is like witnessing two locomotives hurtling towards one another head-on. It’s a terrifying sight. As both capitals struggle to pull the brake, it’s important to understand the backstory about one issue caught up in the impending train wreck: the long-suffering Patriot air and missile defense deal. This is a tale less about the security and economic benefits of the sale and more about a time of intense geopolitics, bilateral policy fights, and growing mistrust between two close NATO allies. As two senior Defense officials who helped manage the U.S.-Turkish defense relationship from 2009 through 2018, we feel it important to give our view on how the United States got to this low point not only in the Patriot sale, but also in this important relationship.
Providing Turkey with air and missile defenses has been an important mission especially since the Gulf War when Turkey asked NATO for the first time to send air defenses to protect them from possible retaliatory SCUD missile strikes from Saddam Hussein. The United States, Germany, and the Netherlands heeded the call, each deploying Patriot missile systems under a NATO flag. The Patriot air and missile defense system was designed during the Cold War with an air defense mission but earned fame during the Gulf War as a point missile defense system against SCUDs. Afterwards, it became the benchmark to meet for air and missile defense systems. From that point on, Turkey approached NATO for air and missile defense whenever their neighborhood got hot, most recently in 2013 during the fighting in Syria, when NATO allies deployed the Patriot or the Eurosam SAMP/T missile defense systems to the Turkish border.
Long suspicious that NATO did not appreciate Turkey’s vulnerability in such a dangerous neighborhood, Ankara came to view its missile defense requests as a litmus test for how much NATO really cared about Turkey. The alliance usually met Turkish requests, although the deployments were hard to sustain (and expensive to maintain) over a long period of time, given the few NATO members that possessed the appropriate missile defense systems. Nevertheless, the alliance bent over backwards to provide other forms of reassurance — such as Airborne Early Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) flights — if missile defense was not available.
Over time, Turkey began to look for ways to buy its own missile defense system and also to use that procurement to build up its own capacity to manufacture and sell an air and missile defense system. Turkey got serious about acquiring a missile defense system early in the first Obama administration when it opened a competition between the Raytheon Patriot PAC 2 system and systems from Europe, Russia, and even China.
The Turks are known for their hard bargaining. In addition to a low price, Ankara wanted to manufacture parts of the system and acquire the sensitive technology to eventually build their own. Building up the sophistication and capacity of the Turkish defense industry has been an important goal of successive Justice and Development Party governments and various predecessors. In the case of this particular weapons system, there were understandably those in the U.S. government who were eager to protect sensitive U.S. defense technology, even from a NATO ally.
Understanding the importance of the U.S.-Turkish bilateral defense relationship (as well as securing NATO’s southern flank), Raytheon and the Department of Defense put together a series of sales packages between 2009 and 2018 that over time moved closer to meeting the Turkish technology transfer and industrial share demands. As both sides edged closer to a deal in 2013, two things happened: then-Prime Minister (later President) Recep Tayyip Erdogan became more personally involved in the negotiations, and the talks were engulfed in the high-stakes geopolitical competition brought on by the Syrian conflict.
To drive down the price and get a Washington ‘yes’ on technology transfers, Erdogan needed to show the United States that he had options. So in 2013, he played his China card by announcing that Turkey would buy the Chinese FD-2000 system, which also allowed for some Turkish licensed production. NATO and the United States were stunned. Various Western officials objected strenuously, saying that the alliance would never integrate a Chinese air defense system into the NATO air defense net. But by 2014, Ankara came to understand that increasing violence in Syria made Turkey more important in the eyes of its allies and so improved its bargaining position. Ankara dropped the Chinese offer (and so quieted NATO critics) and put out a new request for bids.

BECOME A MEMBER

In 2015, a new player parachuted into the complex geopolitical battlefield in Syria when Russian troops arrived to shore up their faltering ally, Bashir Assad. The United States and Turkey did not agree on how to address the Russian intervention. Worse, the United States had begun to work with Syrian Kurdish militants along the Syrian-Turkish border to fight the self-proclaimed Islamic State. Of all the indigenous Syrian forces, these Kurds proved to be the most effective fighters against ISIL, but their organizational ties to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a designated terrorist organization that had waged a fierce insurgency in Turkey’s southeast, riled Ankara. Soon, the United States and Turkey were fighting over whether U.S. forces were training and arming a terrorist group. Ankara felt that Washington dismissed Turkey’s legitimate security concerns. The U.S.-Turkish relationship was further strained when the United States announced that the Patriots deployed by the United States in 2013 as part of a NATO mission needed to return to Germany for maintenance and training. Even though the United States tried to soften the blow by deploying American F-15s to Turkey for a short time and persuaded two other NATO members to send air and missile defense systems to fill the gap left by the United States, Ankara saw this as further proof that America could not be trusted.
In November 2015, the region seemed moments from an explosion when Turkey shot down a Russian aircraft which had reportedly entered Turkish airspace for a few moments. Had Russia retaliated militarily against NATO ally Turkey, the rest of NATO could have been dragged into war with Russia. The potential of facing NATO forces under Article 5 likely deterred Russia from a direct, violent response, although Russian-backed Syrian forces did exchange blows with Turkish-backed forces. Rather than spoil his efforts to split the Turks off from the West and to avoid war, Putin — who had been wooing his fellow autocrat Erdogan for years — limited the Russian reaction to economic sanctions against Turkey.
In July 2016, elements of the Turkish military attempted to overthrow Erdogan when he was away from Ankara. While the putsch attempt was quashed quickly, it was a close call and it gave Erdogan an opening to unleash a mighty purge of the military, civil service, and academia, as well as anyone he thought was supporting his political foe, the Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Erdogan claimed to be behind the plot. Because the cleric had lived in exile the United States, it did not take long for Erdogan and his officials to intimate that the United States was complicit in the coup as well. That the U.S. government denied Turkey’s extradition request for lack of evidence only reinforced this narrative. Even when relations are stable and positive, it is not hard to drum up anti-American sentiment in Turkey across the political spectrum. And relations were neither stable nor positive. The atmosphere was noxious and the potential Patriot sale was not walled off from the fumes.
After the 2016 coup attempt, Erdogan came to believe that his various interests — especially the Kurdish problem in Syria — could be better dealt with if he had Russian support at any future regional conference that addressed the fate of Assad and Syria. Such regional conferences had already started in Astana, Kazakhstan, in 2017 involving Russia, Turkey, and Iran. For Putin, the coup gave him the opening he needed to befriend the friendless Erdogan and so peel Turkey away from the United States and NATO. In the first hours after the coup attempt, Putin was quick to publicly condemn the coup and express strong support for Erdogan. And Erdogan went so far as to suggest the shoot-down of the Russian aircraft the year before as being the fault of a Gulenist pilot. This combination of factors — Erdogan’s increasing hold on power, dwindling confidence in NATO, and growing mistrust of the United States both for its relations with the Syrian Kurds and its suspected role in the coup — brought relations to the low point where it exists today.
Taking advantage of this new low in U.S.-Turkish relations, Putin saw his chance to use an S-400 sale to Turkey to embarrass the United States and inject chaos into NATO, so in July 2017, he offered the air defense system to Turkey. If Erdogan accepted the Russian offer, he could further solidify his friendship with Putin in order to protect Turkish interests in Syria. More deliciously, he could make the Americans pay a price for supporting the Kurds and refusing to play ball on Gulen. In September 2017, without the usual time-consuming hard bargaining and difficult demands, Erdogan announced he would buy the Russian system.
In the months that followed, the United States warned Turkey that an S-400 purchase jeopardized Turkey’s F-35 purchase due to potential compromise of the highly classified technical characteristics of the advanced F-35 aircraft. Integration of the Russian system into the NATO air defense net was also out of the question. Administration officials, most recently including Mark Esper during his confirmation hearings for secretary of defense — warned that Turkey had to choose between the S-400 and the F-35. They couldn’t have both. The State Department spokesperson also warned of consequences and warnings came from both sides of the aisle in Congress as well, and legislators considered an S-400 purchase as being in contravention of the 2017 Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA, that would cause the U.S. president to levy sanctions on Turkey if they bought the S-400. However, based on statements made by Erdogan, he seemed to think that President Donald Trump had bought his narrative of being forced to buy the S-400 due to poor Patriot offers and so would waive both CAATSA and allow the F-35 to be exported to Turkey. Said Erdogan, “Right now, I don’t believe Trump is of the same opinion of those below him and he has said this in front of all the world’s media.” But he was wrong.
The S-400 deliveries to Turkey began on July 12.. Five days after the first Antonov landed in Turkey with S-400 components, the administration reluctantly announced that F-35s would not be arriving in Turkey. The White House statement said, ”Unfortunately, Turkey’s decision to purchase Russian S-400 air defense systems renders its continued involvement with the F-35 impossible.” However, the president continued to echo Erdogan’s victim narrative. On July 16, Trump mentioned to reporters that withholding the F-35 from Turkey was unfair. Said the president, “So what happens is we have a situation where Turkey is very good with us, very good, and we are now telling Turkey that because you have really been forced to buy another missile system, we’re not going to sell you the F-35 fighter jets.” He continued:
It’s a very tough situation that they’re in, and it’s a very tough situation that we’ve been placed in, the United States. With all of that being said, we’re working through it, but it’s not really fair. Because they bought a Russian system, we’re not allowed to sell them billions of aircraft. It’s not a fair situation.
While the administration has made its decision not to export the F-35 to Turkey, the CAATSA legislation must still be dealt with. Congress has made clear on a bipartisan basis that it expects the president to sanction Turkey for buying Russian equipment. While a presidential waiver is possible, it is not likely. The administration has not yet revealed its plans on how it will deal with CAATSA, further dragging out the S-400 drama.
The U.S.-Turkish trains have not collided yet, but as both sides try to figure a way out of the mess, they should be clear about each arrived here. While arms sales are never easy, the Patriot deal with Turkey was an unhappy victim of bigger geopolitical considerations by Russia and Turkey. Is there a way out? Given the personal engagement of three leaders unusually sensitive to their reputations— Erdogan, Putin, and Trump — compromise will be difficult as one of the three will eventually lose. But if a solution can’t be found, these two trains will likely collide, which will be a tragedy for the United States, Turkey, and NATO, and another easy victory for Putin.
 

space cadet

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NATO is not what it used it to be. US is taking a more independent lead and most NATO members don't want to follow all of the US's steps in the Middle East. Like raising tensions with Iran. Moving forward there will be a bigger rift between US side of NATO and EU led side. US presence in Middle East is all about helping Israel gain absolute advantage over the region. US is choosing to give supremacy of region to 7 million Jews while disregarding the remaining hundreds of millions of non-Jews in the Middle East.

If the US continues the bizarre policy of giving Israel everything it want, then people of region will look at Israel as a problem and confront it in future. Afterwards US options will be very bad. Either destroy the world for 7 million Jews or be civilized and allow for peace in the region. Most Americans just want to leave the region be and live normal lives but they have no say in politics.

The reason NATO isn't what it used to be is because the United States is carrying all the burden of NATO. NATO doesn't have anything to do with the middle east except for Turkey, it's mutual defense agreement, in which the US is the only one that can defend itself and is expected to carry the burden of defending literally everyone else.
 

Scorpion

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Scorpion it's a two way street. Turkey was being threatened a lot since the Gaza flotilla incident with Israel. And then they asked the US for specific air defense system and we rejected selling it to them. So no surprise they went for Russian weapons. Either way I'm sure US would not have delivered the F35 to Turkey because Israel doesn't want it.

Both US and Germany deployed the patriot to Turkey and Jordan. Turkey then shut down a Russian jet. NATO pulled out the system for Russian not to destroy. Turkey should have placed an order back then to buy its own. Instead they kept asking repeatedly for the system to be deployed back again. NATO refused, Turkey started working against NATO interest in Syria. What would you expect? of course the US is going to go nuts and will do everything it can to protect its interest. Whether I agree or not it does not matter but that was the last straw that broke the camel's back. Also Turkey and Israel have a stable relationship and many Turkish companies working inside Israel so I do not see why would Israel object to the F-35 deal with Turkey.
 

space cadet

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They were going to sell them the F-35 regardless of what Israel thought, heck they even manufacture F35 parts in Turkey
 

Falcon29

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The reason NATO isn't what it used to be is because the United States is carrying all the burden of NATO. NATO doesn't have anything to do with the middle east except for Turkey, it's mutual defense agreement, in which the US is the only one that can defend itself and is expected to carry the burden of defending literally everyone else.

Yes I know, that was what I was affirming to when I said the US is now taking a lead in NATO. And that the US while does have deployments, exercises and troops in Europe, it is heavily active in the Middle East which they don't want to be part of. They being the Europeans.

They were going to sell them the F-35 regardless of what Israel thought, heck they even manufacture F35 parts in Turkey

Honestly that could be the case but it looked like Israel was pressuring the US to not deliver them and/or US may stall delivery under pretext of Turkey's pro-rebel ops in Syria.

Both US and Germany deployed the patriot to Turkey and Jordan. Turkey then shut down a Russian jet. NATO pulled out the system for Russian not to destroy. Turkey should have placed an order back then to buy its own. Instead they kept asking repeatedly for the system to be deployed back again. NATO refused, Turkey started working against NATO interest in Syria. What would you expect? of course the US is going to go nuts and will do everything it can to protect its interest. Whether I agree or not it does not matter but that was the last straw that broke the camel's back. Also Turkey and Israel have a stable relationship and many Turkish companies working inside Israel so I do not see why would Israel object to the F-35 deal with Turkey.

Well Turkey wants it own air defense and tech transfer because they believe they are facing threats in Syria and in the Mediterranean between Greece/Cyprus and possibly Israel. So they probably felt that moving forward they need a potent air defense system that is not immune against other NATO member jets. Turkey working against NATO interest makes sense from Turkish perspective, why would they support Kurdish separatism? And do you think NATO knows the Middle East better than us Arabs that we must allow them to take the lead in every instance? They do not know what's right for Syria or the future of Syria. They are just using Kurds to justify deployment in Syria and helping Israel achieve security interests.

We Arabs have to take the lead in these situations in my opinion if you want permanent and long term solutions. Heck, NATO may even pull out of Syria completely in a few years. They aren't looking long term but rather short term.

And I know Turkey and Israel have trade, I do not see them as enemies of Israel. But, that is not enough for Israel usually and Israel still encourages Kurdish separatism which is not good for both us Arabs and Turks.
 

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Understanding the importance of the U.S.-Turkish bilateral defense relationship (as well as securing NATO’s southern flank), Raytheon and the Department of Defense put together a series of sales packages between 2009 and 2018 that over time moved closer to meeting the Turkish technology transfer and industrial share demands. As both sides edged closer to a deal in 2013, two things happened: then-Prime Minister (later President) Recep Tayyip Erdogan became more personally involved in the negotiations, and the talks were engulfed in the high-stakes geopolitical competition brought on by the Syrian conflict.

This all a product of Erdogan, this is the direction he wanted to go, and it is the direction they are going.
 

Falcon29

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Understanding the importance of the U.S.-Turkish bilateral defense relationship (as well as securing NATO’s southern flank), Raytheon and the Department of Defense put together a series of sales packages between 2009 and 2018 that over time moved closer to meeting the Turkish technology transfer and industrial share demands. As both sides edged closer to a deal in 2013, two things happened: then-Prime Minister (later President) Recep Tayyip Erdogan became more personally involved in the negotiations, and the talks were engulfed in the high-stakes geopolitical competition brought on by the Syrian conflict.

This all a product of Erdogan, this is the direction he wanted to go, and it is the direction they are going.

So did we give them ToT or not? I remember reading that is what they wanted. Either way, it seems like Turkey wanted the S400 system based on their assessments of regional situation for the present and near future. It's a possibility F35 will be too costly for them as well.
 

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to me it is always that Turkey will back off from the deal sooner or later. i don't know why but it seems like they are playing a game.
 

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I also would like to know who did Erdogan latest visit and meeting with president Trump went.
 
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