Media: S-400 systems purchased by Turkey from Russia sold to one of the Persian Gulf countries

Anti-aircraft missile systems S-400, acquired at one time by Turkey from Russia, have been sold to one of the Persian Gulf countries.

This claim was made by the Turkish pro-government newspaper Hürriyet.

"According to the data I have, the S-400s have been sold to a third country. The deal will be announced today (Friday - ed.). The S-400s are being sent to one of the Persian Gulf countries. Yesterday, work was underway to resolve some issues, and it is reported that they have been resolved by midnight. Some call them the United Arab Emirates, others - Qatar, it is best to wait for an official statement," writes the publication's columnist Abdulkadir Selvi.

Turkish authorities have not yet commented on the publication.

The day before, the same newspaper reported on Ankara's search for a legal formula that would satisfy the United States to exit from under the American CAATSA sanctions and return to the F-35 fifth-generation fighter production program, in connection with which the issue of selling the air defense systems to one of the Persian Gulf countries is being discussed. The newspaper Oksijen, for its part, named the UAE as the likely buyer of the S-400.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, following negotiations with his American counterpart Donald Trump at the NATO summit in Ankara on July 7-8, expressed confidence in Ankara's return to the F-35 program.

The U.S. president himself stated that he had not yet made a decision on this issue.

Turkey purchased four divisions of S-400 air defense systems worth $2.5 billion from Russia in 2017. In October 2019, the Rosoboronexport company (part of the Rostec state corporation) reported that the contract for the supply of the systems had been fulfilled. After the conclusion of the contract between Turkey and Russia for the supply of a regimental set of S-400, Ankara was excluded from the U.S. program to create F-35 fighters.

Source: TASS