The statement made by the US State Department spokesperson on July 9th regarding our procurement of the S-400 air defense system does not conform with the content and spirit of the meeting between the two Presidents at the G20 Summit.

The conditions that led Turkey to procure S400 are well known. President Trump confirmed this at the G20 Summit and made it clear that our country was not fairly treated.

From the very beginning, Turkey has shown a transparent approach on this matter. We have proposed to establish a technical working group, that could include NATO, to address U.S. concerns regarding the potential effects of the S400 system on F35s. However our proposal has been left unanswered so far.

We call upon the U.S. side to refrain from taking wrong steps, that would harm relations, by excluding diplomacy and dialogue.