Turkey asks Washington to accept the establishment of a joint working group on the S-400 system… Stoltenberg confirms that the NATO countries can decide to buy their defense equipment
Turkish Foreign Minister Mouloud Chavushoglu said his country has offered to Washington and NATO to establish a joint working group to remove their concerns about Ankara’s purchase of the S-400 system from Russia.
The United States should accept this proposal if it is sincere.
This came at a joint news conference held by Chavushoglu on Monday with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg following Ankara’s meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the main NATO decision-making body.
The Turkish Foreign Minister said that the experts should hold a meeting in this regard and prepare their report, to be presented a copy of this report to Turkey and another version of NATO, then can be validated US allegations.
During the NATO meeting, Turkey also presented its vision for the Middle East region and the talks at the meeting discussed priority issues on the agenda of the NATO summit in London in December, Chavushoglu said.
He pointed out that a visit to the southern state of Hattai, one of the oldest cities in the Mediterranean region, will be held tomorrow and that participants in the NATO meeting will be briefed on the efforts made by the state to address irregular migration, terrorist threats and security challenges.
“Turkey is in dire need of an air defense system because of the threats it faces and the North Atlantic is well aware of this”, Chavushoglu said.
“The allies have to stand with Turkey in the face of these threats”.
He noted that the Secretary-General of NATO knows very well that some allies, led by the United States, Germany and the Netherlands in particular, have withdrawn batteries of air defense missiles that were located in the southern border areas of Turkey, although Turkey doesn’t currently have air defense systems.
For his part, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that each country in the alliance is the decision maker to purchase any defense equipment, and thanked Turkey for its efforts in contributing to the maintenance of NATO security.
This came at a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Mouloud Chavushoglu after the meeting of the North Atlantic Council hosted by Turkey on Monday and Tuesday as part of the 25th anniversary of the Mediterranean Dialogue.
Stoltenberg said in response to a question on Turkey’s purchase of the Russian S-400 missile system, “Each country in NATO has the decision to buy any defense equipment”.
Stoltenberg expressed his regret over the administration’s comments on possible sanctions on Turkey and Ankara’s exclusion from the F-35 fighter program.
He said that he discussed the issue of US sanctions in all his meetings in Washington and Ankara, stressing that these sanctions must be avoided between the NATO allies.
He thanked Turkey for its significant contributions to the Alliance and for providing substantial support in combating terrorism in Syria, Iraq and the region.
On 6-7 May, Turkey will host the meeting of the North Atlantic Council, the main decision-making body of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as part of the 25th anniversary of the Mediterranean Dialogue.
