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Russia began the delivery of an advanced missile defence system to Turkey it has been reported, a move likely to trigger US sanctions against a Nato ally and drive a wedge into the heart of the military alliance.
According to the Turkish defence ministry, the first parts of the S-400 air defence system were flown to a military air base near Ankara, sealing a deal with Russia that Washington had laboured for months to prevent.
The US says the Russian military hardware is not compatible with Nato systems and that the acquisition may lead to Ankara’s expulsion from an F-35 fighter jet programme.
Investors in Turkey have been unsettled by the deal. The Turkish lira weakened to 5.717 against the dollar from 5.683 before the ministry announced the arrival of the S-400 consignment to the Mürted Air Base.
At least two Russian air force An-124 cargo planes flew to Turkey on Friday morning, data from plane tracking website Flightradar24 revealed.
Russia’s federal service for military and technical cooperation confirmed it had started delivering the S-400 systems and deliveries would continue on schedule.
Turkey says the system is a strategic defence requirement, particularly to secure its southern borders with Syria and Iraq. It says that when it made the deal with Russia for the S-400s, neither the US nor Europe presented a viable alternative.
After meeting President Donald Trump at a G20 summit last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the US did not plan to impose sanctions on Ankara for buying the S-400s.
On the other hand, even though Trump said Turkey had not been treated fairly, but he did not rule out sanctions. Last week US officials said the administration still planned to impose sanctions on Turkey.
Under legislation known as Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which targets purchases of military equipment from Russia, Trump should select five of 12 possible measures.
These range from banning visas and denying access to the US-based Export-Import Bank, to the harsher options of blocking transactions with the US financial system and denying export licences.
Washington says the S-400s could compromise its Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter jets, an aircraft Turkey is helping to build and planning to buy. Turkey could also face expulsion from the F-35 programme under the sanctions.
Erdoğan has dismissed that possibility, but Washington has already started the process of removing Turkey from the programme, halting aircraft training of Turkish pilots in the US.
Investors in Turkey have been concerned about the impact of potential US sanctions on an economy that fell into recession after a currency crisis last year.
The S-400 acquisition is one of several issues that have frayed ties between the two allies, including a dispute over strategy in Syria east of the Euphrates River, where the US is allied with Kurdish forces that Turkey views as foes.
The detention of US consular staff in Turkey has also strained relations, along with disagreements over Iran, Venezuela and Middle East policy. Turkey has long demanded Washington hand over a Muslim cleric whom Ankara holds responsible for an attempted coup in 2016.
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