Turkey has alternatives to meet own defense needs, Parliament speaker says

Turkish Parliament Speaker Mustafa Sentop says Ankara has alternative partners to meet its own defense needs, arguing that Washington has long exploited the threat of sanctions to put psychological pressure on world states.

“The US pulls the sanctions card as a threat when it has problems in regards to maintaining relations with various countries,” Sentop told the official Anadolu news agency in the North Macedonian capital city of Skopje on Sunday.

He added that the US frequent use of sanctions as a threat has made it ineffective, noting that the Senate committee’s sanctions bill against Turkey over its offensive in northeastern Syria and purchase of advanced Russian S-400 missile system will not have any impact on the Turkish economy.

Sentop highlighted that the US sanctions will not hinder Turkey's defense capacity because the country has alternatives in a diverse global system.
He went on to argue that Turkey had already faced an unofficial sanction with the US attempts to remove his country from the F-35 fighter jet program, adding that Washington has stated it would not hand over the aircraft.

He asked “Isn't this a sanction, an embargo? Did we not see a similar case regarding drones and Patriot missiles?”

Sentop noted that Washington’s negative attitude towards Ankara led the latter to purchase Russian S-400 missile systems.

“Turkey is in the process of evaluating alternatives for the F-35s as you know,” the top Turkish legislator said, adding, “Turkey is not confined to the U.S. or any other country.”

Sentop highlighted that the US sanctions and embargo plans would not adversely affect Turkey's economy and defense industry, but would harm bilateral relations between the two countries.

ME