Erdogan confident Turkey will avoid U.S. sanctions over S-400s
Updated 23:05, 29-Jun-2019
CGTN
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00:45

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was confident Saturday there would be no sanctions against Turkey over a controversial Russian missile deal following reassurances from his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump at a meeting between the two leaders earlier on Saturday.   

"We heard from him that there won't be anything like this (sanctions)," Erdogan told a press conference in Osaka, Japan, following a meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the G20 summit being held there.  

Erdogan insisted that Turkey and the United States were "strategic partners," but also said that "no one has the power to intervene in Turkey's sovereignty."  

Despite Washington's concerns and threats over Ankara's push to buy Moscow's S-400 missile defense system, Erdogan reiterated that the purchase was a "done deal." 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. /Reuters Photo

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. /Reuters Photo

Erdogan said the S-400 was expected to be delivered in the first half of July.  

Turkey previously held talks with U.S. former president Barack Obama's administration for the similar Patriot system, but Congress did not allow the deal to move forward, he noted. 

Washington has also threatened to remove Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program and, in an ultimatum, told Ankara to cancel the S-400 deal by July 31 or Turkish pilots training on the warplane would be expelled from the U.S.  

Turkey has plans to buy 116 F-35s, Erdogan said, and its manufacturers have invested heavily in building parts of the jet.  

The president said on Saturday Turkey had invested 1.4 billion U.S. dollars in the production so far.  

Relations between Turkey and the U.S. have been strained over multiple issues, including American support for a Kurdish militia in Syria and the failure to extradite a Pennsylvania-based Muslim preacher blamed for the 2016 failed coup in Turkey.

Source(s): AFP