Turkey:Russian Personnel Can’t Have Free Access to S-400 Batteries

"Russian personnel will not be able to access the S-400 batteries as they wish," said Turkey's President Defence of Industries, Ismail Demir, in a recent interview.

Although the S-400 procurement agreement includes items such as training, maintenance and technical support, Russian personnel will not be able to access the S-400 batteries as they wish. Stating that this issue is a red line, President of Defence Industries Prof. Dr. İsmail Demir stated that local companies will be the authority in the maintenance processes. While explaining that the installation process is still continuing and certain systems are put into operation, it was underlined that the parties that touch the systems and do business will be Turkish companies and Turkish Air Force.

Turkish Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on April 30 that the process of deploying S-400 air defense missile systems in the country was being delayed over the coronavirus pandemic. He said, however, that "this process will be continued in accordance with the plans."

In March, Russia's head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC), Dmitry Shugaev, said in an interview with Interfax that "Turkey itself will decide when to put the S-400 on duty," that Russian does not influence that decision by any means,"neither push nor slow down."

In the same interview, Shugaev said that a new contract with Turkey for an additional batch of S-400 was on the table and that negotiations were underway.

Russia announced in September 2017 that it had signed a $2.5 billion deal with Turkey on the delivery of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems to Ankara.

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