Readers of the Turkish edition of Haber7 reacted sharply to the statement of the US senator regarding Ankara’s purchases of Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems.
Thus, Congressman Robert Menendez called such a move a “clear violation” of US sanctions, so he called on Turkey to break off military cooperation with Russia.
Users, in turn, called the United States a bandit country, and the senator himself a terrorist.
Some of them recalled that India also acquired the S-400 from Russia, but no restrictions were imposed against it.
“Turkey should develop relations with the countries of the region and reconsider its relations with the United States,” a reader under the name Hussein wrote under the publication.
In addition, commentators believe that the United States may be up to something, since they are so afraid of the S-400. They stressed that Turkey should, in spite of them, buy even more S-400s, as well as buy Su-57s or Chinese helicopters.
“The dog barks, but the caravan goes on,” says a Turkic proverb, summed up the user Ahmet.
Earlier, on August 17, Dmitry Shugaev, director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSVTS), said that the implementation of the contract for the supply of Turkey with the second regiment of the S-400 anti-aircraft missile system (SAM) had already begun. According to him, the close economic cooperation between Russia and Turkey affects, among other things, the supply of military equipment.
Prior to this, on July 15, Haber7 reported that the US House of Representatives approved an amendment exempting India from sanctions after the purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems.
The US decision reportedly angered Turkey, against which Washington imposed restrictions under similar circumstances. Also, due to restrictions, Ankara was excluded from the program for the production of fifth-generation F-35 fighters.
Last year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he had no doubts about concluding a second contract for the supply of S-400s. According to him, Moscow and Ankara are taking many steps in the field of defense cooperation.
Russia and Turkey signed the first contract for a regimental set of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems in 2017, deliveries to the Turkish side were made in the summer and autumn of 2019. This led to a crisis in relations between Turkey and the United States. The US administration has repeatedly condemned the acquisition of Russian weapons by NATO and insisted that Turkey buy American systems.
The S-400 Triumf anti-aircraft missile system can destroy modern air attack targets, including ballistic missiles. The detection range is up to 600 km, the radius of the cover zone is 400 km. The S-400 complex was bought from Russia by China, Turkey and India.
