Erdogan announces deal with Russia on S-400 air defense missile systems

MOSCOW, July 25. /TASS/. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that Ankara and Moscow have signed certain documents as part of a deal on the purchase of Russian-made S-400 long-range air defense missile systems, the TV Channel Haber 7 reported on Tuesday, citing the president.

"We have made steps on this issue with the Russian Federation. Signatures have been put and I hope that we’ll see S-400 missiles in our country. We’ll also request the joint production of these systems," Erdogan said.

According to Erdogan, "Turkey has been unable for years to get what it wanted from the United States" with regard to the purchase of air defense missile systems and "has been forced to shop around."

"And this [the accords on S-400 systems] is the result of such searches. Greece, which is a NATO member, has been using the S-300 systems for many years. So what is the US concerned about?" the Turkish leader noted.

Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford earlier said that Ankara’s upcoming purchase of Russia’s S-400 air defense missile systems could be a cause for Washington’s concern. On his part, Erdogan said he didn’t understand why the United States was alarmed over Ankara’s possible purchase of Russian-made S-400 air defense missile systems, pointing out that every country had the right to take certain measures to ensure its own security.

Meanwhile, Russian Presidential Aide for Military and Technical Cooperation Vladimir Kozhin earlier said that the contract with Turkey on the delivery of S-400 systems had been agreed on.

The Kremlin refrains from commenting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s statement about signing a contract with Russia on supplies of S-400 systems, Russian president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov told TASS on Tuesday. "No comment," he said.