Russia may establish a military base in Turkey within the sale and purchase agreements signed regarding Russian S-400 Triumph surface-to-air missile systems, the Turkish media reported.
According to the report, Russian military base in Turkey may be created until 2019.
After Turkey acquires the S-400 Triumph air defense systems, it is planned to deploy two missile batteries on the Turkish border with Syria, one battery in the Mediterranean region, and another one in Turkey’s Black Sea Region.
Turkey will receive the first Russian S-400 Triumph air defense systems in 2019.
Earlier, Turkish National Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli said that the control system of Russian S-400 Triumph surface-to-air missile systems, to be acquired by Turkey from Russia, will be under the control of the Turkish side.
The President of the National Strategy Institute, Mikhail Remizov, speaking with the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that, most likely, it is about a technical support base for Russian S-400s.
"This is a purely military-strategic issue. From a political perspective, it seems to me that the opening of Russia's full-fledged military base in Turkey look rather doubtful. There are various types of facilities that can be opened within the framework of the agreement on the supply of our arms to Turkey, in particular, repair and maintenance service centers - journalists often refer to them as "bases," which is an incorrect interpretation. It's like the situation in Ulyanovsk, when it was almost called a 'US military base' in our media," he explained.
A military observer of the TASS news agency, retired Colonel Viktor Litovkin agreed with Remizov. "I am not sure that Russia is ready to deploy a military base in Turkey, because Turkey is a member of NATO, and NATO members are not allowed to deploy a military base of a state that is not the alliance's member on their territory. More likely, it's about a some other object, which was named a base in the Turkish media," the expert believes.
He explained that the delivery of the S-400 systems will necessarily include the training of the Turkish military. "Before S-400 systems are delivered to Turkey, its specialists will be trained at Russian training grounds, in Russian educational institutions, at Russian enterprises. Then they will service these systems themselves, while our instructors and specialists will advise them for some time. There can be no question of Russian military base in this case, because it contradicts the state's obligations to NATO," Viktor Litovkin concluded.
