Ankara considers it disrespectful for the United States to impose sanctions on NATO ally Turkey for the purchase of Russian S-400 missile defense systems, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said.
"The fact that Turkey is facing something called CAATSA is disrespectful against a strategic NATO ally," Daily Sabah cited him as saying.
The Turkish president noted that Turkey is not an ordinary country and is among the top members of the alliance and both U.S. Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama had praised Ankara as a NATO ally.
Erdogan added that he does not know how things will turn out until Trump leaves office and newly elected Joe Biden takes over but noted that he has taken positive steps related to several issues during Trump’s presidency.
"On the other hand, I had also worked with Mr. Obama – who is a Democrat – during his eight-year period in office, and I am someone whom he says is one of his five first friends among global leaders," the Turkish leader said, adding that he does not understand why the issue of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) has come up now.
