Erdogan is talking for Turkey’s acquiring the S400 missile system and the cooperate with Russia, and talks about the measures taken by his government in memory of the coup attempt 2016

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday hailed the purchase of Russian missiles despite US warnings to mark the anniversary of the 2016 coup attempt that deepened the distance between Ankara and Western capitals.

“We started receiving our (Russian) S-400 missiles, some said they cannot buy them”, he said.

“God willing, we’ll finish the handover in April 2020”.

Erdogan was speaking on the occasion of the third anniversary of the coup attempt that left about 250 dead without counting the military they carried out.

The anniversary this year is in a delicate circumstance for Erdogan, where Washington threatens to impose sanctions on the purchase of Russian missiles and the economy in decline as well as a resounding electoral defeat in Istanbul weakened the president.

After taking part in several events in Ankara, including the inauguration of a new police headquarters, Erdogan is scheduled to leave for Istanbul on Saturday evening to deliver a speech and launch a museum dedicated to the anniversary of the attempted coup.

On the night of July 15-16, 2016, defectors tried to seize power by bombing strategic sites in Ankara and deploying tanks on the streets of the capital and Istanbul.

According to the official Turkish Anadolu news agency, eight thousand soldiers participated in the coup attempt, using mainly 35 aircraft, three battleships, 37 helicopters and 74 armored vehicles.

The coup failed to bring in pro-regime forces and thousands of Erdogan supporters who took to the streets. Some 250 people were killed without the military.

The Turkish authorities attributed the coup attempt to former Fatah ally Fathullah Gulen, who became his first enemy.

Gulen, who has been in the United States for 20 years, denied any involvement in the coup attempt.

Since the coup attempt on July 15, which has become a holiday, gatherings in the country.

Several thousand people gathered Monday to participate in the inauguration of the new police headquarters in Ankara.

“We’ve foiled the plans of those who wanted the coup, and we will repeat that if necessary”, a 70-year-old said to hear Erdogan’s speech.

“They’ve shaved our beard but they have reborn more intensively”, Erdogan said in his speech.

We’ve cut off their hands, “he said, referring to campaigns to expel and arrest Gulen supporters.

Three years after the attempt, the hunt for Gulen supporters continues in heavy form with weekly arrests.

The coup attempt triggered the expulsion of 150,000 public sector employees and the arrest of more than 55,000 people through judicial proceedings.

Ankara also confirmed that it had received 110 suspects from 20 countries.

The campaign of pursuing those opponents in favor of the Kurdish issue and the media and the university and raised the concern of European countries intensified their criticism of the Turkish authorities.

In the midst of the coup attempt, Turkey, a member of NATO, took a distance from the West, which it accused of “lack of sympathy” with its regime in parallel to its proximity to Russia.

The anniversary of the coup attempt coincides with the return of tension between Ankara and its Western partners over two issues – the Russian missile deal with Turkey and the Turkish exploration of gas off the coast of Cyprus despite European pressure.

The delivery of Russian S400 missile batteries to Turkey began late last week and continued on Monday with the arrival of two aircraft carrying parts of the missile defense system.

Erdogan said the aim was to “jointly produce” the S400 system with Russia.