US moves against Turkey do not befit alliance, says FM

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Friday slammed the United States for sparking a diplomatic crisis with Turkey.

“The U.S. is pressurizing all its allies lately. This does not befit an alliance. Had our allies sold us an air defense system, we would have purchased it. We needed it urgently, so we bought it,” said Çavuşoğlu, referring to the Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile batteries Ankara is due to procure in 2019.

A U.S. delegation had indicated that if Turkey backed down from its deal to purchase the Russian S-400s then it would remove obstacles preventing Ankara’s purchase of the F-35s.

Speaking about relations between Turkey and the U.S., Çavuşoğlu said: "The U.S. president does not only have problems with Turkey, but also he has problems with every EU member country."

The U.S. House and Senate of Congress in late July agreed to bar the delivery of any F-35s to Turkey until the Pentagon delivers a plan evaluating the ramifications of axing Turkey from the program, and the state of Washington-Ankara ties.

Turkey is very much concerned over a possible attack on Idlib, the last major rebel stronghold in Syria, Çavuşoğlu said.

"Turkey is trying to prevent an attack on Syria's Idlib, which would be a disaster," he added.

Located near the Turkish border, Idlib in May was designated as a de-escalation zone where acts of aggression are expressly forbidden as part of the ongoing Astana process.

Nevertheless, for the past two months, the Idlib de-escalation zone has been the target of particular fierce airstrikes by Russia and Assad regime forces.

Çavuşoğlu also responded to a question over Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 missile defense systems.

"Turkey bought the Russian S-400 missile defense system. Period. There will be no more arguments on that. Turkey needs the systems urgently," Çavuşoğlu added.

Last December, Turkey announced it had concluded an agreement with Russia for the purchase of two S-400 systems by early 2020.

This April both parties agreed on early delivery of the systems.

The S-400 is Russia's most advanced long-range anti-aircraft missile system, with the ability to carry three types of missiles capable of destroying targets, including ballistic and cruise missiles.