Putin planning visit to Turkey in January: Erdoğan aide

Duvar English

Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning a visit to Turkey in the first week of January, a senior aide to Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan told state broadcaster TRT Haber on Nov. 15.

İbrahim Kalın said Putin and Erdoğan will discuss energy issues including the TurkStream natural gas pipeline, as well the details of an agreement between Ankara and Moscow for the Kurdish YPG militia to withdraw from Turkey's borders with Syria.

Kalın also said Turkish and U.S. officials have started negotiations on the F-35 fighter jets and Turkey's acquisition of Russian S-400 missile defense systems. He said the talks will be carried out at bilateral level and not under NATO supervision.

“The two presidents appointed me and [U.S. National Security Advisor] Robert O’Brien at the White House meeting. We are starting to work on it as I speak,” said Kalın. “S-400 system can be used independently without being integrated into NATO defense system.”

U.S. President Donald Trump on Nov. 13 pushed Erdoğan to walk away from the purchase of the S-400 defense system, calling it a “very serious challenge” to bilateral ties, even though he described a meeting between the two leaders as “wonderful.”

“Turkey’s acquisition of sophisticated Russian military equipment, such as the S-400, creates some very serious challenges for us and we are talking about it constantly,” Trump told a joint news conference.

“We talked about it today, we’re talking about it in the future, hopefully we’ll be able to resolve that situation.”

Minutes after their news conference, the White House released a statement using firmer language than the two leaders. “In order to achieve progress on other fronts, it is vital that we resolve the issues involving Turkey’s purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system, strengthening our defense partnership,” it said.

Washington says Ankara’s purchase of the Russian system is not compatible with NATO defenses and also poses a threat to the F-35 ‘stealth’ fighter jet Lockheed Martin is developing.

Turkey had shrugged off threats of U.S. sanctions and began receiving its first S-400 deliveries in July. To punish Turkey, the United States has banned sales of F-35s to the country and removed it from a multinational program to produce the warplane.