Defense Minister Fikri Işık said on Friday Turkey was in discussions with a few countries on acquiring an air defense system, adding that Russia's advanced S400 system was among those considered and discussions with Moscow were positive.
Işık said Russia's attitude was positive and the two sides were engaged in careful negotiations. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had raised such a possibility in a meeting in Istanbul last month. Turkey's NATO allies object to Turkey's efforts to acquire such a missile defense system from suppliers outside of the alliance, arguing it would not be possible to integrate it to the wider NATO system. However, Turkey has found it hard to find a supplier that is willing to transfer technology and agree to co-production, prerequisites for Ankara.
In 2013, the undersecretariat for the Defense Industry (SSM) chose the China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corporation (CPMIEC) FD-2000 (HQ-9) long-range air and missile defense system over its American and European competitors. However, it decided to cancel the deal late last year after significant pressure from its NATO partners.
Previous reports had suggested that Turkey was also considering the Italian-French consortium Eurosam's SAMP/T Aster 30 system. Turkey is also in the process of developing its own indigenous system, with two state-owned firms, Aselsan and Roketsan, starting a program.
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