Congress: Purchase of Russian Defense System Will Lead to Tension in Turkey-U.S. Relations

The Hill website reports that the U.S. House of Representatives has warned Turkey that purchasing an air defense system from Russia could lead to "tension" and "halt" American weapon sales to the country. Turkey states that "dictating demands to others is not beneficial for the alliance of the two countries." According to a report from The Hill on May 6, the House has allocated a section in its "National Defense Authorization Act" to the potential halt of American weapon sales to Turkey, another member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The U.S. House of Representatives claims that "Turkey-U.S. relations have faced tensions in recent years due to actions taken by Ankara." According to American lawmakers, "the potential purchase of the S-400 air defense system from the Russian Federation has exacerbated tensions in our relations. Such an act could have negative consequences for the development of military weapon mechanisms between the United States and Turkey." The proposal presented by the House requests the Secretary of Defense to provide a report on Washington-Ankara relations within the next 60 days. The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced last December that Ankara and Moscow had finalized the agreement for the delivery of S-400 defense systems to Turkey, with four S-400 systems expected to be delivered by 2020. This issue has raised concerns among NATO members since it was first mentioned; NATO is considered the "largest" military alliance in the world, with members sharing common military objectives. Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State, also expressed serious concerns about the purchase of Russian weapons that are incompatible with NATO defense systems during a meeting with the Turkish Foreign Minister on the sidelines of a NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels earlier in May. However, Turkey rejected this warning, emphasizing that a significant portion of the agreement has been completed and is irreversible. The Turkish Foreign Minister reiterated on Monday that "the U.S. must come to terms with this issue." Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu stated that "talking to a country from a superior position, dictating what it can and cannot do, is not the right approach and harms our alliance." The S-400 covers a radius of 400 kilometers and can simultaneously track and destroy multiple targets.