Turkey’s Cavusoglu: Turkey forced to purchase Russian S-400 air defense systems

Ankara is forced to purchase Russian S-400 air defense systems, said the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Trend reports referring to Turkish media.

According to Cavusoglu, Turkey is in dire need of protecting its airspace.

He added that despite Ankara and Moscow closely cooperating in many areas, there also tend to be disagreements between the two parties.

On July 12, Turkish Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar said that the sending the first cargo of S-400 anti-aircraft missile system components to Turkey has begun.

NATO previously expressed concern over the reports of the delivery of S-400 missile systems to Turkey.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has repeatedly stated that each member state has the right to independently make decisions about the types of weapons used. However, the Russian systems are incompatible with the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defense System, and this is a problem, the NATO press service said.

It was stated earlier that the Ministry of National Defense of Turkey will determine the exact location of the Russian S-400 missile systems after acquiring the first S-400 shipment.