BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th July, 2019) The United States seems to be reluctant at this time to retaliate against Turkey for acquiring Russian S-400 missile defense system despite pressure from senior lawmakers, who want to implement restrictive measures right away.� � � � � �
On Tuesday, top Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in a letter to President Donald Trump called for sanctions on Turkey for acquiring the Russian missile system, stressing that, without a firm action by the United States, its "sanctions regime on Russia will suffer."
The letter came after Trump's meeting with Republican senators in the White House, during which they discussed the possibility of imposing sanctions on Turkey following Washington's decision to remove Turkey from its F-35 program. However, media reported on Tuesday, citing Republican sources, that the US president made clear to Republican senators that he did not want to impose sanctions on Turkey and asked for more "flexibility" in responding to Turkey's purchase of S-400s.
US SAYS S-400 MAY COMPROMISE F-35 JETS
Turkey joined NATO in 1952. After the US Armed Forces, the Turkish Armed Forces rank as the second largest military force in the alliance.
Ellen Lord, the US under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said on July 17 that the United States and its other F-35 partners "were aligned in the decision to suspend and begin formally removing Turkey from the program."
"Much of the F-35's strength lies in its stealth capabilities, so the ability [of the S-400] to detect those capabilities would jeopardize the long-term security of the F-35 program," she said.
According to a White House spokesperson, the F-35 "cannot coexist with a Russian intelligence collection platform that will be used to learn about its advanced capabilities."
TURKEY-NATO 'CRISIS' PART OF ERDOGAN'S STRATEGY?
Ankara, on its part, insisted that the S-400 agreement was a matter of Turkey's national sovereignty. It condemned the US move to eject it from the F-35 program as a "mistake," slamming the US claims that S-400 was incompatible with NATO's air defense systems as groundless. Russia started delivering S-400 to Turkey earlier this month.
"The Turks have made a decision which has been thought out carefully. They were expected to adopt - like all NATO forces and American allies - the US Patriot air defense system, which has shown its efficiency in Israel, against missiles sent from the North. But they have chosen not to," Pierre Henrot, a military consultant in Brussels and former artillery commander, told Sputnik.
According to Henrot, the so-called Turkey-NATO crisis is only a "logical extension of Erdogan's strategy," especially bearing mind that protecting NATO's southern flank was vital for the alliance.
"Without Turkey in the alliance, the Bosporus Strait would be banned or access would be made difficult to NATO vessels: all benefits for Moscow. Erdogan has adopted a strategy of victimization on the part of the European Union, the United States and NATO in general," he stressed.
A non-NATO Turkey allied to Russia would be "a catastrophe" for the alliance, Henrot argued.
"Turkish officers working at NATO in Brussels and elsewhere, have access to all classified documents, up to NATO ... contingency plans, codes, planning documents, political and military notes. In case of a political clash, a good part of these ultra-sensitive documents could ... end up in the Kremlin," the military consultant underlined, describing the situation as "very serious" for NATO.
On Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey would retaliate if the United States imposed sanctions over S-400s.
