Senator Lindsey Graham called Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu at U.S. President Donald Trump’s behest amid ongoing tensions over Ankara’s decision to buy a Russian antimissile system.
Graham said he delivered a message to Cavusoglu about a "win-win" situation for Turkey and the United States if Ankara reverses course on the Russian S-400.
"The S-400, that problem can be solved, and the relationship can flourish. This can be a win-win. If the S-400 is activated, then the relationship takes a very dark turn," Graham said he told the Turkish foreign minister.
"My pitch to Turkey was: Let’s stand down on the S-400, let’s start free trade agreement negotiations, which would change the Turkish economy, would help the American economy, will give us a much closer economic relationship," the Hill cited him as saying.
"The S-400 is a $4 billion purchase. They’ve had to be removed from the F-35 program, that’s a $10 billion loss. If there was a free trade agreement negotiation that resulted in a product it would fundamentally change Turkey’s economy. What I’m asking for is cooler heads to prevail," the senator added.
