Ankara: Turkey wants to buy Patriot missile systems from the US
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, during his speech at the Doha Forum in Qatar, said that Turkey has asked the United States to sell American Patriot anti-aircraft missile defense systems to Ankara and is still awaiting a response to the proposal.
"Turkey believes that the United States is still our ally, and we remain their ally. No one can cancel the deal with Russia to buy the S-400 missile systems. It's completed. Russia's offer was more beneficial, and we accepted it. Now we are ready to buy the Patriot missile system from the US, and we are waiting for their response," said Turkish Foreign Minister.
Çavuşoğlu stressed that if the United States imposes sanctions against Turkey because of the purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system, Turkey will have to respond.
Earlier, Undersecretary for Turkish Defense Industries İsmail Demir said that although Turkey has requested that the US supplies Patriot missile defense systems, it is not only not going to abandon the S-400 missile systems, but is also close to signing a contract for the supply of another batch of Russian anti-aircraft system.
Washington requires Ankara to completely abandon the Russian missile system, threatening to impose sanctions and exclude Turkey from the program to produce fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets.