Turkey has said it will retaliate if the U.S. halts sales of new generation F-35 fighter jets in reaction to the Turkish government’s purchase of S-400 anti-ballistic missile systems from Russia.
“It’s not right for them to speak with us in a threatening way. If they take such a step at a moment when we are trying to mend our bilateral ties, they will sure get a response from Turkey. There no longer is the old Turkey,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavusoglu told the private broadcaster CNN Türk in an interview on Sunday..
“We told the U.S. about our response. I told this to the U.S. secretary of state [Mike Pompeo] in our meeting in Brussels,” Çavusoglu said.
The Turkish foreign minister’s statement came after the U.S. Congress called on the U.S. government to sanction Turkey because of its growing ties with Russia particularly after its procurement of the S-400 air defense system.
The US congress wants to hold off on U.S. weapons sales to NATO ally Turkey until a report is created to analyze worsening tensions between Washington and Ankara.
The provision in the House version of the annual defense policy bill would require the Pentagon to provide Congress a report “on the impact that increasing strains on the U.S.-Turkey relationship, caused by provocative actions taken by the Turkish government over the past year, will have on all U.S. military and diplomatic activities currently conducted in Turkey.”
The Pentagon would be prohibited from executing “the delivery of a foreign military sale for major defense equipment under Section 36 of the Arms Export Control Act to Turkey, until the report is complete,” according to the language, included in a minority summary of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) released Friday.
“It will slow down anything going to Turkey,” a senior committee aide told reporters of the provision.
They added that lawmakers are trying to work with the Defense Department to figure out where the countries’ relationship is headed as Washington is poised to hand over more than 100 F-35 Lightning II fighters to Turkey.
Under the U.S.-led, multinational Joint Strike Fighter program, Turkey has committed to buy 116 of the F-35A variant.
“They [US] should not question our good ties with Russia,” the Turkish foreign Minister said adding “The West should abandon this understanding. Countries in this geography have to pursue a balanced policy. Our NATO membership is not an obstacle for us to establish good ties with other countries. No one can argue that Turkey is seeking an alternative to its NATO membership,” he said.
The U.S. has to understand that it can no longer impose its own policies on other countries in the world and cannot sanction countries unilaterally, Çavusoglu stressed.
“The U.S.’s attempt to impose sanctions on us is illogical and wrong. I would retaliate [in this case],” he said.
He threatened “If the U.S. imposes sanctions or takes a step in this direction, Turkey will absolutely respond to this. But this is not something we wish. Why should it happen? Thus, the U.S. should give up this approach.”
Turkey needs to protect its citizens and defend its airspace but the U.S. hesitated to sell its Patriot systems, Çavuşoğlu recalled, underlining that threatening Turkey with sanctions was not befitting an ally.
Cavusoglu and Pompeo are to meet in May. The minister said he will either visit Washington D.C. before May 11 or after May 15 as he will accompany President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on a visit to London between these days.
