OSAKA, ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday the United States did not plan to impose sanctions on Ankara for buying Russian defence systems, after the U.S. president said Turkey had not been treated fairly over the contract.
The NATO allies have been at odds over Turkey’s decision to procure the Russian S-400 missile defence systems, with Washington warning of sanctions if the deal goes through.
Russia’s Interfax agency on Saturday quoted a Kremlin spokesman as saying that the deal envisaged a partial handover of technology.
Turkey has said it would not back down before the early July delivery date, further testing relations that are already strained over a host of other issues.
But in contrast to statements by U.S. officials, Donald Trump said Turkey had been treated unfairly over its decision to buy the S-400s and blamed the “mess” on the administration of former President Barack Obama. Trump did not rule out sanctions.
Speaking shortly after bilateral talks with Trump at the G20 summit in Japan, Erdogan said that the S-400s would be delivered in the first half of July, adding he had heard directly from Trump that there would be no sanctions.
“We have heard from him personally that this would not happen,” Erdogan said. “We are strategic partners with the United States. As strategic partners, nobody has the right to meddle in Turkey’s sovereign rights. Everyone should know this.”
Earlier, asked if the United States would impose sanctions on Turkey, Trump, sitting alongside Erdogan, said the issue was being discussed, but it was a “two-way street” and both sides were evaluating “different solutions”.
The United States says the S-400s are not compatible with NATO’s defence network and could compromise its Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighter jets, an aircraft Turkey is helping to build and planning to buy.
Under possible U.S. sanctions, Turkey could face expulsion from the F-35 programme, a move Erdogan has dismissed. But Washington has already started the process of removing Turkey from the F-35 programme, halting training of Turkish pilots in the United States on the aircraft.
“We have a payment so far of $1.4 billion to the United States,” Erdogan said. “As joint producers, until now four F-35 jets have been delivered to us, but we will still receive… a total of 116 jets. We are expecting these,” he added.
“What some people in lower ranks are saying absolutely do not align with Mr Trump’s approach. I believe these will not harm our bilateral ties, and that is the commitment we are going on with.”
‘UNFAIR’ TREATMENT
Despite the threat of sanctions, Turkey had put its hopes on the relationship between Erdogan and Trump, saying it expected the U.S. president to protect it from sanctions over the S-400 deal.
Ahead of Saturday’s talks, the meeting between Erdogan and Trump was seen as Turkey’s last push to avoid U.S. sanctions that could significantly damage its already ailing economy.
Even minor U.S. sanctions could prompt another sharp sell-off in the Turkish lira. A 30% slide in the currency drove the economy into recession last year, and the lira has lost another 10 percent this year.
Erdogan’s comments also appeared to go beyond statements made by the Turkish presidency and the White House after the talks between the two leaders, which lasted around 40 minutes.
The White House said Trump “expressed concern” over the S-400 deal and “encouraged Turkey to work with the United States on defence cooperation in a way that strengthens the NATO alliance”, while the Turkish presidency said Trump had voiced a desire to resolve the dispute without harming bilateral ties.
In an effort to sway Turkey, the United States has offered to supply it with Raytheon Co Patriot missiles, but Erdogan has said the U.S. offer was not as good as Russia’s S-400 proposal.
Speaking at a news conference at the G20 minutes before Erdogan, Trump blamed Barack Obama’s administration for placing conditions on Turkey’s purchase of Patriot missiles and treating Turkey unfairly, and added Erdogan had no fault in the dispute.
“This administration previous to mine would not let him buy it (Patriots). So (Erdogan) goes out, he goes to Russia, and makes a deal for the S-400,” Trump said. “He made a deal, he paid them a lot of money, put up a lot of money. And he bought it.”
“As soon as he bought it (S-400), people went back to him from our country and they said, ‘Listen, we don’t want you to use that system because it’s not the NATO system,” he added. “He got treated very unfairly.”
Trump also said he would visit Turkey, but added that a date had not been set yet. Erdogan said earlier this week that Trump may visit in July.

ALGIERS: Protesters thronged the heart of Algeria’s capital on Friday despite a heavy police presence, vowing to push their demands for transition after the ouster of president Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
Under a scorching sun, massive crowds marched through the streets of Algiers all afternoon in the 19th consecutive week of mass protests against the North African country’s regime.
Some 100 police vans — many more than normal — were deployed in Algiers from early morning, along with water canon and bulldozers.
Ahmed, a 54-year-old protester, said he had never seen such a heavy police presence.
“They want to scare us, but they’re wrong — fear is behind us,” he told AFP.
The vehicles remained in place throughout the rally.
Police particularly targeted protesters carrying the Berber flag, after army chief and key power broker Ahmed Gaid Salah banned all flags other than the national colours at rallies.
Algeria’s Berber minority has long suffered marginalisation.
After arresting one man carrying the flag, police fired tear gas to cover their retreat, provoking anger among the protesters, who were quickly calmed by volunteers determined to ensure demonstrations remain peaceful.
The rally in Algiers — and some 31 of the country’s 48 regions — dispersed without major incidents in the late afternoon, the official APS news agency said.
Demonstrations were planned for Friday night in six sub-Saharan regions of Algeria.
Mass protests sparked by ailing president Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s intention to stand for a fifth term led to his resignation on April 2.
But the demonstrations have carried on, with demonstrators demanding the departure of regime insiders and the establishment of independent institutions.
The country’s constitutional council was forced to cancel polls set for next week to select Bouteflika’s successor, after the only two candidates — both little known — were rejected.
Protesters have demanded the establishment of transitional bodies, free of Bouteflika-era officials, to push through reforms ahead of presidential elections.
Army chief Gaid Salah, who has resisted such moves, has also faced persistent calls to resign.
Former prime ministers Abdelmalek Sellal and Ahmed Ouyahia are among several high profile figures detained under a probe into corruption under Bouteflika’s rule.
But some in the opposition say such probes should be the responsibility of a future government, fearing that regime factions could use them to settle scores against each other.

LONDON: A British-Iranian woman imprisoned in Iran has ended her hunger strike after 15 days.
The husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe told the BBC that his wife had eaten some porridge with apple and banana.
Richard Ratcliffe said Saturday he is “relieved because I wouldn’t have wanted her to push it much longer.”
He has ended his own hunger strike outside the Iranian Embassy in London.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the charitable Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested in April 2016 on charges of trying to topple the government while traveling with her toddler daughter in Iran.
The family has denied all the allegations.
Ratcliffe is leading a campaign to try to win his wife’s release from prison. British officials are also calling for her release.

DUBAI: Iran will soon exceed an enriched uranium limit under its nuclear deal, after remaining signatories to the pact fell short of Tehran’s demands to be shielded from US sanctions, the semi-official Fars news agency cited an “informed source” as saying.
“As the commission meeting in Vienna could not satisfy Iran’s just demands … Iran is determined to cut it commitments to the deal and the 300 kg enriched uranium limit will be soon breached,” the unnamed source said, according to Fars.
The countries that are still parties to the 2015 nuclear accord – European powers Britain, Germany and France plus Russia and China – held urgent talks with Iranian officials on Friday in Vienna in hopes of persuading Tehran to hold off.
Iran’s envoy to a meeting of the remaining signatories to the agreement said on Friday that European countries had offered too little at last-ditch talks to persuade Tehran to back off from its plans to breach limits imposed by the deal.
The Europeans say breach of the agreement by Iran would escalate confrontation at a time when Tehran and Washington are at risk of a miscalculation that could trigger a war.

BENGHAZI, Libya: Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar has ordered his forces to attack Turkish ships and interests in the country, his spokesman said on Friday, accusing Turkey of backing his rivals in Libya’s conflict.
“Orders have been given to the air force to target Turkish ships and boats in Libyan territorial waters,” said General Ahmad Al-Mesmari, adding that “Turkish strategic sites, companies and projects belonging to the Turkish state (in Libya) are considered legitimate targets by the armed forces.”
Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army, which holds eastern Libya and much of the country’s south, launched an offensive to take the capital in early April.