国际英语资讯:Spotlight: Ankara in search of way out of S-400 deal with Moscow: analysts_时事

国际英语资讯:Spotlight: Ankara in search of way out of S-400 deal with Moscow: analysts

The United States argues that Russian missiles on Turkish territory could gain valuable intelligence on the technical systems of the U.S.-made stealth F-35 jets expected to be delivered to Ankara in November.

Turkey appears to be trying to come up with a new formula for the S-400 missiles to avoid confrontation with the United States, Nihat Ali Ozcan, a security policy analyst, told Xinhua.

The United States threatened to block the transfer of the fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets to Turkey and remove it from the F-35 joint production program unless Ankara drops the S-400 deal.

The Sabah columnist's article about the S-400s may be aimed at preparing the ground for the ruling party's supporters to get used to such an idea, commented Koni.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other top Turkish officials had repeatedly underlined that there was no turning back from the deal with Moscow.

However, in what could be seen as a sign of Ankara's search for a way out in the S-400 issue, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Friday that "if we are a NATO member, we must also pay heed to NATO's concerns."

Cavusoglu dismissed, nevertheless, Washington's argument that the missiles would pose a threat to the F-35 jets, noting that the U.S. and Israeli F-35s have been flying over Syria where the S-400 system is deployed.

Cavusoglu was in Washington D.C. early this month to discuss the S-400 issue with his U.S. counterpart Mike Pompeo, while Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar met there with acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan in the past week.