Erdogan says Turkey is capable of dealing with the consequences of an arms embargo

ANKARA – Turkey has made significant achievements in developing its defense industry and was able to overcome the consequences of an arms embargo. This was conveyed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan said his country was not buying weapons that were capable of being produced in-house.

“In 2002, we completed 62 defense projects; today, this figure has reached 700. We have increased the budget for our defense projects from $ 5.5 to $ 60 billion, “he said late Thursday, as quoted by Antara. Sputniknews, Friday (13/11/2020).

“Seven Turkish companies are on the list of the largest defense companies in the world. Turkey is able to overcome all the difficulties posed by foreign suppliers; their embargo is hidden and open,” Erdogan continued. (Read: Trump Fires Pentagon Boss, Preparing for Military Coup against Erdogan?)

He stressed that Turkey had successfully launched production of cameras for drones after Canada imposed an arms embargo on Ankara over its involvement in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Last month, the United States warned Turkey that there would be “serious consequences” for the “security relationship” between the US and Turkey if Ankara continues its testing activities of the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system.

In 2019, Washington removed Ankara from the F-35 stealth fighter jet program after Turkey decided to purchase the S-400 missile defense system. The purchase was marked by the signing of a $ 2.5 billion contract between Turkey and Russia in 2017, which resulted in a sharp decline in US-Turkey relations. (Also read: US Elected President Biden: King Salman, Putin to Erdogan are silent)

The US also warned that Turkey’s deployment of the S-400 would be devastating, not only for the F-35 program, but also potentially undermining Turkey’s interoperability with NATO. The reason is that the S-400 was specifically designed to shoot down planes like the F-35.

Washington has opposed the Ankara-Moscow deal. The US is demanding that Turkey throw away the S-400 and buy the US Patriot missile system instead. However, Ankara and Moscow are both continuing negotiations for the delivery of additional S-400 devices.

Erdogan’s country has received 36 S-400 rounds and more than 192 missiles and has recently expressed interest in buying more.

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