{"id":53612,"date":"2017-11-06T18:57:30","date_gmt":"2017-11-06T18:57:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2017\/11\/06\/turkish-procurement-saga-weighs-russian-s-400-deal-against-pleasing-the-west\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:53:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:53:00","slug":"turkish-procurement-saga-weighs-russian-s-400-deal-against-pleasing-the-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/land\/2017\/11\/06\/turkish-procurement-saga-weighs-russian-s-400-deal-against-pleasing-the-west\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkish procurement saga weighs Russian S-400 deal against pleasing the West"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ANKARA, Turkey \u2014 The past couple of weeks have seen a thick layer of fog surrounding Turkey\u2019s controversial, multibillion-dollar program for the procurement of the country\u2019s first long-range air and missile defense shield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There have been official contradictory statements reminiscent of confusion in the summer of 2013 when a Defense News story claimed that Turkey would select the Chinese bidder in a four-way competition (against U.S., European and Russian rivals). Three months after that story, in September 2013, the Turkish government announced that it selected China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corporation for the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2015, Turkey scrapped the bidding and an initial deal with CPMIEC. And in early 2017, Turkish officials said they were close to a deal with Russia for the procurement of the S-400 system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Oct. 13 that Turkey was also interested in acquiring a future Russian air and anti-missile system, the S-500 \u2014 which is under development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn our talks with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, we are not thinking of stopping with the S-400s. We have had talks on the S-500s, too,\u201d Erdogan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Turkey wants to procure a long-range air and missile defense shield. (Devan Feeney\/Staff)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But according to Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, the S-400 deal involved joint production, not direct sale. \u201cIf Russia doesn\u2019t want to comply, we\u2019ll make an agreement with another country,\u201d Cavusoglu said Oct. 9 following reports that Russia was reluctant to share the technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just a day before that, on Oct. 8, a senior opposition politician who had visited Washington said Turkey had contacted the U.S. with the intention of acquiring the Patriot system \u201ctwo to three weeks ago.\u201d He said he was briefed on the discussion by U.S. officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A top Turkish procurement official who is part of the S-400 negotiations said Oct. 26 that talks with the Russians have successfully progressed and are about to be completed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is agreement on every technological issue,\u201d he said. \u201cNegotiations are progressing further. The two sides are now discussing financing for the program, with a few technical details remaining to be agreed upon. They concern the terms of financing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the S-400 deal would be direct acquisition, not co-production. He also said that a future co-production deal for the S-500 system was unlikely because Turkey also had selected a foreign partner for its indigenous air and anti-missile architecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talks with the European Eurosam group have been progressing since 2016 for the co-production of the SAMP\/T system, designed for medium- and long-range air defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\t