Head of Turkey's Presidency of Defense Industries Ismail Demir said on Monday that Russian S-400 missile defense systems are ready to be commissioned in Turkey, the 24TV channel informs.
"The S-400 are ready for use, the armed forces will decide when such a need arises," the TV channel quotes Demir as saying.
The Presidency of Defense Industries confirmed this report. "Yes, [Ismail Demir] did state this in Ankara today," TASS cited the presidency as saying.
Besides, Demir informed that Turkish enterprises continue working on the project of developing US F-35 fighters, despite Washington’s decision to exclude Turkey from this program.
Russia and Turkey signed a deal on the delivery of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems to Ankara in 2017. Turkey was the first NATO state to purchase those systems from Russia. Turkey’s decision to acquire the Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile systems caused a sharply negative reaction from the United States and NATO as a whole. The United States is not abandoning its attempts to make Turkey give up the Russian air defense systems. In October 2020, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara was not going to give up the S-400 systems despite the US pressure. He also rejected the threats of sanctions and suggested the United States should finally stop threatening Turkey and try to impose them in reality.
