UPDATED WITH MORE DETAILS AND REMARKS
By Gokhan Ergocun and Yunus Girgin
ISTANBUL (AA) – New US sanctions will leave most of Turkey unaffected, including the National Defense Ministry, Turkish Armed Forces, and defense companies, the head of the Turkey’s Defense Industries Presidency (SSB) said on Thursday.
Speaking at Anadolu Agency's Editor's Desk, Ismail Demir said the sanctions only target his government agency, but will not affect existing agreements that were already signed.
The sanctions were not imposed on the country, but only a single institution in Turkey and four people, he underlined.
"The National Defense Ministry, the Turkish Armed Forces, and our security forces are not in a position to be affected by the sanctions," he stressed.
Stating that the sanctions target one institution, the SSB, Demir said the SSB is not the institution that meets the needs of US F-16 fighter jets.
Last year, Turkey was suspended from participation in the US' F-16 program over Turkey buying a missile defense system from Russia.
Criticizing the sanctions, Demir said they were imposed by the US because under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s leadership, Turkey refused to “bow down to orders”
- No against ‘friendly relations’
The US on Monday imposed sanctions on Turkey over its purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system.
The sanctions, coming under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), target the SSB, including Demir and three other officials.
Stating that Turkey is not defined as an “enemy” by the US, Demir said the purpose of the sanctions, as announced by a US statement, was not to harm Turkish defense efforts.
He cited a lack in the statement of “negative messages about good friendly relations, alliance relations, and NATO relations."
He also highlighted that the sanctions will not create obstacles for Turkey, but rather will boost its determination.
Stressing Turkey’s duty to develop its defense industry, Demir said thanks to these efforts, it now has over 1,600 local defense firms.
Demir also highlighted that Turkey has had no problem accessing financial resources, adding: "It has not happened until now. The main contractor comes into play where a credit mechanism will be used."
Demir stressed the ultimate solution for Turkey is producing its own domestic engines.
"In this process, we are meeting with authorities, countries, and companies that are open to cooperation, joint production and development with us," he added.
- Missile defense
Stressing that the S-400 air defense system bought by Turkey is the best in its class, Demir added: "There were talks with China for a long time, but they were shelved due to some reasons at that time.
“In the later stages, we continued negotiations with the Americans, Italy, and France. There was no supply of the [US] Patriot system under the conditions we wanted."
Turkey has cited the US refusal to sell it Patriot missiles as one reason it bought the S-400s instead.
After all this, the negotiations for the S-400 started, he added.
In April 2017, when its protracted efforts to buy an air defense system from the US proved fruitless, Turkey signed a contract with Russia to acquire the S-400 shield.
US officials have voiced opposition to their deployment, claiming they would be incompatible with NATO systems and would expose next-generation F-35 jets to possible Russian subterfuge.
Turkey, however, stressed that the S-400 would not be integrated into NATO systems, and poses no threat to the alliance or its armaments.
It has repeatedly urged a working group to clear up the technical compatibility issues.