Turkey has sealed a military deal with Russia, receiving the first parts of the Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems in the summer of 2019. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not bow to pressure from the United States, and Ankara's determination to acquire Russian-built weaponry will enrage both Washington and its NATO peers.
Turkey's purchase of the cutting-edge Russian military technology poses a thorny problem for all fellow NATO allies, a situation that presents a threat to the security of the entire Alliance. Turkey impairs NATO's military deterrence of Russia, and NATO is soon seen to drastically reduce cooperation with Ankara.
Turkey seeks to depict the current turmoil over its buying of the Russian S-400s in terms of a fissure in its bilateral ties with the United States, or a state of affairs that should not affect Ankara's position in NATO structures.
