Turkey again offered the United States, on Tuesday, to establish a technical working group with the participation of NATO, to help resolve the dispute over its purchase of a Russian missile defense system that has angered Washington.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mawlod Gawosh Oghlo said during an online Atlantic Council meeting that Turkey‘s position on resolving the issue has not changed.
“We are offering the United States to establish a technical working group that includes NATO, and NATO can lead the technical working group. This offer is still on the table. “
He stressed that Turkey was still ready to buy American Patriot missile batteries if it made a good offer. Washington has said repeatedly that it does not intend to supply Turkey with batteries unless it returns the Russian “S-400” missiles.
Tensions dominated relations between the two NATO partners last year, when Turkey bought the Russian S-400 defense systems, prompting Washington to threaten sanctions and suspend Turkey’s participation in its F-35 aircraft program.
The United States says that the S-400 missiles are not compatible with NATO systems, and represents a threat to the capabilities of Lockheed Martin’s F-35s, but Turkey denies this and says the missiles will not be integrated into NATO defenses.
Turkish President Rajep Tayyip Erdogan visited Washington last November, met US President Donald Trump, and agreed with him to establish a technical working group, but this effort has made little progress.
Source: “Reuters
