Istanbul, June 11: Turkey has on Tuesday said a resolution of US House of Representatives criticizing Ankara’s deal to purchase Russian S-400 air defence missile systems and urging possible US sanctions was “unacceptably” threatening.
According to Reuters news reports, the resolution was introduced in May entitled with “Expressing concerns for the United States-Turkey alliance”, which was agreed on Monday in the US House.
The resolution urges Ankara to immediately halt its deal to buy Russian S-400 air defence missile system and calls for US sanctions if it continues with the Russian deliveries, which may be effective as soon as July. It also said that would undermine Washington-led transatlantic defence ties.
In response to this, Turkish foreign ministry, in an official statement, said its judicial system and foreign policy were totally being defamed by “unfair” and unfounded allegations in the US resolution.
The Turkish statement added, “It is unacceptable to take decisions which do not serve to increase mutual trust, to continue to keep the language of threats and sanctions on the agenda and to set various artificial deadlines.”
Relationship between the two NATO allies has been soared on various fronts, including Turkey’s plan to purchase Russian defence systems, conflicting strategies over Iran and Syria, and the arrest of US consular staff in Ankara.