Contract to deliver second S-400 shipment to Turkey signed – Russian official
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Amid conflicting reports on the much-wanted Turkish dream to get the S-400 anti-aircraft missile system seems to have been made a reality.
While Washington refused to comment on the reports, it emerged elsewhere however the deal was a concrete one.
“A corresponding agreement has already been signed. Among other things, it will allow for the production of some components of the [S-400 Triumf] system to be localized,” the head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSVTS), Dmitry Shugayev, told the Russian News Agency (TASS).
Shugayev’s comments were made on the sidelines of the Army-2022 international forum which opened in Moscow on Tuesday.
In Turkey, the NATO second largest ally, however, there was no such a deal. “The purchase of a second batch was included in the original plan and the related contract,” a Turkish defense official told Reuters.
“The process is ongoing and there are no new agreements,” he was quoted as saying. However, Shugayev said with confidence the contract with Turkey was put into action.
The timing of the announcement of the deal is however significant. It follows days of the Turkish-Russian presidential summit in the Russian city of Sochi on August 5, where, besides Syria, the war in Ukraine and the S-400, among others, dominated the discussions.
A breakthrough may have been made; this will undeniably have repercussions on the US-Turley relations which have been on the decline since a decade owing in part to the US support to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) seen by Turkey as an extension to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The situation in Syria is seen by observers as pushing Turkey to the lap of Russia the most dominant country in the Syrian affair.