Turkey would retaliate against what it called an unacceptable threat of US sanctions over Ankara's purchase of Russian S-400 missile defenses, its foreign minister said on Monday, adding he thinks US President Donald Trump wants to avoid such measures.
Turkey began receiving deliveries of the surface-to-air S-400 systems earlier this month, prompting the United States to begin removing the NATO ally from its F-35 stealth fighter program over security concerns.
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Washington says it is concerned that S-400 software will compromise its F-35s to the benefit of Russia. While several Republican and Democratic U.S. lawmakers have pressed for sanctions, Trump has equivocated in recent days.
"If the United States portrays an adversarial attitude towards us, we will take retaliatory measures, as we've told them. This is not a threat or a bluff," Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said in an interview with broadcaster TGRT Haber.
