Foreign minister: Turkey, US to set up working group on sanctions, S-400s

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The US has proposed setting up a joint working group on its sanctions on Turkey imposed over the issue of Russian S-400s, and Turkish officials have agreed, according to the minister of foreign affairs.

Such a working group, could point the way forward to lifting the sanctions imposed earlier this month, said Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.

The minister said that Turkey had earlier proposed a joint working group on the sanctions, which target Turkey's Defense Industries Presidency (SSB), including SSB head İsmail Demir and three other officials.

"Now the proposal came from the US. As we naturally always favor dialogue, we said yes, and negotiations began at the level of experts," Çavuşoğlu said during a meeting reviewing foreign policy developments in 2020.

Underscoring that opinions differ as to whether the sanctions are heavy or not, he said imposing sanctions is a misstep both politically and legally.

"It is an attack on our sovereign rights," he stressed.

On December 14, through its Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), the US imposed sanctions on Turkey over its acquisition of the Russian S-400 missile defense system.

In April 2017, Turkey signed a contract with Russia to acquire the state-of-art missile shield and received the first batch of equipment in July 2019.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan confirmed in late October that Turkey testet the missile systems in the northern Sinop province.

US officials have voiced opposition to their deployment, claiming they would be incompatible with NATO systems and would expose F-35 jets to possible Russian subterfuge.

Although Turkey said that the S-400s would not be integrated into NATO systems, and pose no threat to the alliance, it was excluded from the F-35 program. (VK)