The Turkish Defense Ministry said Thursday its Russian-made S-400 air defense systems remain in the country’s arsenal and that Ankara’s position on the issue has not changed, after media reports claimed Moscow had asked Ankara to return the systems.
“The S-400 air defense systems are in our inventory, and there is no change in our position,” defense ministry sources were quoted by Turkish media as saying.
The claim that Russia sought the systems’ return first appeared in a September 3 report by Turkish outlet Nefes and then circulated in foreign media.
Russian agency RIA Novosti later quoted a Turkish source denying any plan to return or sell the systems, and Thursday’s ministry line matched that stance.
Turkey signed the S-400 contract with Russia in December 2017, valued at about $2.5 billion, and received the first deliveries in July 2019.
Turkey test-fired the system near Sinop in October 2020, and the United States imposed CAATSA sanctions that December and removed Turkey from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.
Ankara has said its overall stance on the S-400s remains in place while it pursues other air-defense options and broader talks with Washington on defense ties.