Erdoğan on US sanctions: What kind of alliance is this?

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed via videoconference the opening ceremony of the second section of Ankara-Niğde Highway yesterday (December 16).

Touching upon the current issues on the country's agenda, President Erdoğan also talked about the recent US sanctions imposed on Turkey over its purchase of the S-400 air defense system from Russia.

CLICK - US sanctions Turkey over S-400s

Erdoğan argued that "those unable to cope with Turkey on a legitimate basis were working to deter it through threats of unilateral sanctions":

"In the previous weeks we were talking about the European Union's (EU) sanction threats and yesterday the United States (US) announced its sanctions which had already been on the agenda for a while.

"Let me put it clearly, the CAATSA has not been imposed on any country other than Turkey since 2017. Turkey, which is a NATO member, is the first country the CAATSA is imposed on.

"What kind of an alliance is this? What kind of an allyship is this? This decision constitutes a blatant attack on our country's sovereign rights."

'They want to make us dependent'

Indicating that "Turkey's procurement of S-400s and the allegation that this system poses a threat to the F-35s was a pretext," Erdoğan said:

"The underlying objective is to hamper the moves our country has recently made in the defense industry and thus make us totally dependent on them. This is clearly expressed in the reports they themselves prepare as well.

"From the very beginning, we have offered the formation of a technical working group to address their concerns, if any, about S-400s and to settle the issue through dialogue and diplomacy. However, it is clear that their aim is not to play the ball but the man. It seems that even if there were no issue of S-400s, they would still resort to similar methods under different pretexts."

Turkey would mind its own business without getting deterred by such sanctions, according to President and AKP Chair Erdoğan, who said that Turkey was now more determined to boost its defense sector. (DŞ/SD)