Turkey is interested in purchasing Russian S-400 missile systems, talks on possible supplies are underway, Sergei Chemezov, CEO of Rostec state corporation, said on Monday, according to Tass news agency. “Turkey is interested in S-400 systems. Talks are underway. The key issue is financing,” he told journalists on the sidelines of the IDEX 2017 international defence exhibition.
In November 2016, Turkey’s Minister of National Defense Fikri Isik said Ankara was in talks with Moscow on possible purchase of S-400 systems. In late December, the sides held a meeting of the intergovernmental commission on military technical cooperation, which had been expected to touch upon the issue of S-400 supplies. The first foreign buyer of Russian S-400 missile systems was China. The corresponding contract was reportedly signed in the spring of 2015. According to media reports, the deal’s cost was three billion U.S. dollars. The plans by Turkey have raised some eyebrows in NATO circles, as the alliance has an integrated system that requires military equipment compatible with its overall defence umbrella, while the procurement, if completed would also shift the balance of power over the Aegean Sea in favour of Turkey, as the anti-aircraft missile system is considered the most advanced one on the world.