Turkey on Friday warned that the country will “take reciprocal steps” if the US government “takes any negative actions towards” the country over its purchase of Russian S-400 missile-defense systems. The US has been urging Turkey for months not to go through with the purchase, which it considers a security risk because Turkey is a NATO ally that has been planning to use US F-35 fighter jets.
The US government has threatened to prevent Turkey from purchasing F-35 jets if the country doesn’t abandon its agreement with Russia, but Turkey is refusing to back down, which could have serious consequences for the future of the country in NATO. Experts believe that by challenging the US on this matter, Erdogan is putting Turkey’s military alliance with the US and Europe at risk without having a realistic alternative to fall back on, because Russia is not likely to be interested in forming a NATO-like alliance with Turkey.
Read more: Turkey says would retaliate against U.S. sanctions over Russian S-400s
