Turkey begins piloting Russian S400 air defense system in Ankara
Russia will begin testing the Russian S400 air defense missile system, Bloomberg news agency reported Monday, citing an unidentified Turkish defense official.
Turkish military planes will be used in Ankara on Monday and Tuesday during radar tests of the missile system, according to the official, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on civilian officials.
The official made the remarks to clarify a statement by the governor of Ankara on Sunday in which he said that the Turkish F16 planes should be expected to fly low and high around the capital on November 25 and 26.
Turkey and the United States, members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), are at loggerheads over Turkey’s purchase of the Russian air defense system and the threat it poses to the Pentagon’s most expensive weapons program at all (F35).
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he told his US counterpart Donald Trump during their meeting this month that Turkey wouldn’t give up the deployment, exposing it to sanctions backed by the US Congress.
Erdogan remains confident that his personal relationship with Trump will stave off punitive measures against Turkey.
This came as a security source said on Monday that Turkey is fully committed to the agreements it has signed with Russia and the United States on northeast Syria, and it won’t resume its military offensive there.
Ankara reached two separate agreements with Moscow and Washington last month to keep the YPG fighters out of an area in northeastern Syria on the border with Turkey, which in return halted its military offensive against Kurdish fighters.
But Ankara has previously said Russia and the United States had not abided by the deal and threatened to launch a new operation.
The security source said on Monday that Turkey was responding to attacks by the YPG in the region as part of self-defense.
Meanwhile, Turkish troops found a tunnel network in the Syrian city of Ras Al Ain as part of a sweep of terrorist-free areas in northern Syria, according to a statement from the Turkish Defense Ministry.
The Turkish Anatolian news agency reported that Turkish forces on Monday unveiled a tunnel network set up by Kurdish militants in Ras Al Ain.
It was liberated from terrorism as part of Operation Spring of Peace”.
On October 9, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched a “spring of peace” military operation in northeastern Syria to “clear the territory of terrorists”, referring to the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).
Ankara considers the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) an arm of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
