Washington warns Turkey of "serious consequences"

NEWS DESK

On Friday, the spokesman for the US Defense Department Charles Summers threatened Turkey that it may face "serious consequences" if it would buy, as scheduled, the system of Russian anti-missile S-400.

Replying to a question asked during a press conference at the Pentagon about the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's intention to buy the Russian anti-missile system S-400, Summers said, "If Turkey bought S-400, there would be serious consequences for our relations in general and our military relations in particular."

"They would not be able to get F-35 warplanes and Patriot missiles," he said.

It is scheduled that Turkey will start receiving the S-400 system of missiles next summer, and this is one of the most serious points of contention between the two countries.

The Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Friday that the installation of Russia's S-400 air defense system would start in October.

The NATO supreme commander in Europe, the General Curtis Scaparotti, said on Tuesday that if Turkey had already bought the Russian S-400 missiles, then we could not allow F-35 aircrafts to hover in the presence of Russian anti-missiles system."

The US-Turkish relations have witnessed a tension in the result of the case of the American Pastor Andrew Brunson who was held in Ankara, where Washington put pressure economically which led to the deterioration of the Turkish lira and forced the latter to surrender and release him.