Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, stated on a TV programme that Turkey and the US started negotiations on Patriot missiles.
Turkey had ended the agreement on the purchase of S-400 missiles from Russia. Underlining that cancellation of the S-400 purchase was not possible, Çavuşoğlu said: “We received a positive response as to Patriots from the Americans about two years ago and the negotiations have started.”
Maintaining that the agreement on S-400s was done and signed, Çavuşoğlu also stated that “they will be delivered towards the end of this year, in fall. We bought the S-400s because we hadn’t been able to buy the Patriots. We need air defense systems. We are surrounded by severe risks and threats, including threats by missiles. So we have to protect our country’s air space.”
On the other hand, Bloomberg reported from an anonymous source claimed to be two Turkish authorities that the US offered to provide Turkey with a Patriot air defense system until the end of the years in exchange of the cancellation of the S-400 agreement. The two authorities in question attest that Turkey rejected the offer.
Turkey’s purchase of S-400s from Russia had caused discomfort among NATO members and allies, especially the US, and created disturbance in diplomatic relations between Turkey and the US.
