Turkey has signed a deal with Russia to buy S-400 missile defence systems, its first major weapons purchase from Moscow, in an accord that could trouble Ankara's NATO allies.
The purchase of the surface-to-air missile defence batteries, Ankara's most significant deal with a non-NATO supplier, comes with Turkey in the throes of a crisis in relations with several Western states.
"Signatures have been made for the purchase of S-400s from Russia. A deposit has also been paid as far as I know," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in comments published in several newspapers on Tuesday Sep 12,2017
"Mr. Putin [President Vladimir Putin] and myself are determined on this issue," he told Turkish journalists aboard his presidential jet returning from a trip to Kazakhstan.
Moscow also confirmed the accord, with Vladimir Kozhin, Mr. Putin's adviser for military and technical cooperation, saying, "The contract has been signed and is being prepared for implementation."
Note
Turkey, a NATO member since 1952, has currently troubled ties with the United States over a number of issues including Washington's support for the People's Protection Units (YPG) Syrian Kurd militia which Ankara considers a terror group.
The Turkish-Russian contract is a new sign of better relations between Ankara and Moscow since a reconciliation deal was signed last year following the 2015 shooting down by the Turkish military of a Russian plane over the Syrian border.
Ankara was also heartened by Moscow's response to the 2016 failed coup in Turkey and the two sides have been working together in search of a solution to the Syria conflict.
But the two nations — whose rivalry in the Black Sea and Caucasus regions dates back centuries — are still at odds on a host of political issues
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