Turkey continues to play a double game with the USA and Russia. On the one hand, Turkey is conducting negotiations with the US regarding the purchase of F-16 aircraft. On the other hand, the same Turkey is conducting negotiations with Russia for additional procurement of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems. A purchase that, if carried out, will force the US to apply economic sanctions against Turkey.
Does Turkey think that the F-16 deal will save it from American sanctions? It is not yet clear which game is being played in Istanbul.
The S-400 systems are supposed to, among other things, also protect the nuclear power plant that Turkey is building in Akkuyu. The financing for the station, in the amount of about 20 billion dollars, is provided by a Russian company called Rosatom, which also supplies the reactors for the station.
The financial agreement between the countries in the context of the station is unknown, but the station is supposed to provide about 10 percent of Turkey’s electricity consumption.
Rosatom recently transferred a payment of 5 billion dollars to promote the construction of the station. The project received funding from Russia’s largest lender, Sberbank PJSC, as well as Sovcombank, which are under US and EU sanctions.
The Russian publication also claims that assembly production for the Russian system has begun in Turkey.