Turkey says work on S-400 issue continues
The Turkish Ministry of Defense reported the continuation of certain work on the topic of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems purchased from Russia, but did not specify exactly what.
"Work related to the S-400 air and missile defense system continues in a multilateral format. Specific developments will be reported to the public as they progress," a department representative said at a briefing for journalists in Ankara. The ministry did not provide explanations about what exactly is meant by such work.
The pro-government Turkish newspaper Hürriyet reported last week that, according to its data, the S-400s have been resold to one of the Persian Gulf countries. The UAE and Qatar were named among the most likely buyers. Turkish authorities have not officially confirmed this information.
Turkey purchased four divisions of S-400 air defense systems from Russia in 2017 for $2.5 billion. In October 2019, the company Rosoboronexport (part of the state corporation Rostec) reported that the contract for the supply of the systems had been fulfilled. After concluding the contract between Turkey and Russia for the supply of a regimental set of S-400, Ankara was excluded from the US program to create F-35 fighters.
