US Secretary of Defense slams Turkish purchase of S-400

Speaking to Pentagon reporters on Wednesday, the new US Secretary of Defense, Dr. Mark Esper, spoke strongly against Turkey’s acquisition of the advanced Russian air defense system...

WASHINGTON DC (Kurdistan 24) — Speaking to Pentagon reporters on Wednesday, the new US Secretary of Defense, Dr. Mark Esper, spoke strongly against Turkey’s acquisition of the advanced Russian air defense system, the S-400.

Turkey began taking delivery of the S-400 last month, prompting the US to drop it from the F-35 program. As a senior Pentagon official stated then, “Turkey cannot field a Russian intelligence collection platform in proximity to where the F-35 program makes, repairs, and houses the F-35,” stressing that the aircraft’s “stealth capability” is crucial, and “the ability to detect those capabilities would jeopardize the long-term security of the F-35 program.”

READ MORE: White House affirms Turkish exit from F-35, as Pentagon provides details

It has been suggested that if Turkey did not deploy the S-400, that could resolve the problem. Asked if Turkey put the S-400 into storage, that would “qualify” Turkey to return to the F-35 program, Esper had a sharp reply.

“No, not in my book,” he said. “I’ve been very clear in both my public comments and privately with my Turkish counterpart. It’s either the F-35 or the S-400.”

“It’s not park one in the garage and roll the other one out,” Esper continued. “It’s one or the other.”

While affirming that Turkey has been a “long-standing” partner and ally, Esper also said that its present course is “regrettable.”

“I would hope that they would move back in our direction and really live up to what NATO agreed to many years ago,” he continued, “and that was to begin divesting of Soviet-era Russian equipment,” but “they seem to be moving in a different direction.”

Esper spoke the day after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Moscow, where he met with Russian President, Vladimir Putin. The main topic of discussion was the Syrian regime’s increasing attacks in Idlib, the last rebel-held province in that country. Erdogan sought Russian help in restraining Damascus, but he does not appear to have been successful. According to Al Jazeera, the meeting “produced no sign of a meaningful breakthrough.”

While in Moscow, Erdogan accompanied Putin in visiting a Russian air show. He, along with the Turkish Defense Minister, inspected Russia’s latest jet fighter, the Su-57. When Erdogan asked, if it was available for purchase, Putin replied, “You can buy,” the Russian press reported.

The following day, Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu asserted that Ankara would “seek new alternatives,” if it is not allowed to buy the F-35.

Speaking alongside Esper on Wednesday, Gen. Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, struck a more conciliatory note, suggesting that the current problems between the US and Turkey were temporary.

“Almost every time we meet,” Dunford told reporters, “I tell my Turkish counterpart that we have many more areas of convergence than divergence” and “many of the areas of divergence” are “near-term issues.”

“If you look at Turkish national interests and you look at US national interests, they’re much more closely aligned than any other interlocutor that Turkey might be dealing with right now,” Dunford said.

“There is a fundamental difference of perspective between the Pentagon’s civilian leadership and much of the uniformed military,” a former Pentagon official remarked to Kurdistan 24.

“On a military to military level, they get along fine, and they have for many years,” he said. Noting that Dunford’s remarks were an implicit criticism of Erdogan, he added, “Dunford is right. The problem is political,” but “I’m not so sure the political can be so easily overlooked.”

According to a US law known as CAATSA (Combatting America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act), Turkey should be sanctioned for its purchase of the S-400. However, President Donald Trump has not done so.

On Monday, as a second S-400 battery began to arrive in Turkey, the House Foreign Affairs Committee called on Trump to sanction Turkey.

The US Congress is on summer recess until September 9. After the legislators resume their work, it is a near-certainty that pressure to adopt such measures will increase.

Esper has been Secretary of Defense for a month. Before that, he was Secretary of the Army. He is an Army veteran and fought with the 101st Airborne Division (“Screaming Eagles”) in the 1991 Gulf War.

Esper received a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a Ph.D. in Public Policy from George Washington University.

Editing by Nadia Riva