Friday, December 1st., 2017
What's Behind NATO's Decision to Accept Turkey's Russian S-400 Purchase
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Sputnik/ Grigoriy Sisoev
The
US and NATO have accepted Ankara's decision to acquire the Russian-made
S-400 Triumf air defense system because Turkey remains one the
alliance's most important strategic partners, which provides the bloc
with the capability to strike at Russia from the south, Czech military
analyst Martin Koller told Sputnik.
Having
warned Turkey over the acquisition and implementation of the
Russian-made anti-aircraft S-400 missile system (NATO codename SA-21
Growler), the chairman of NATO's Military Committee, Czech General Petr
Pavel, later changed his tone and said that the alliance reconciled
itself with the Russo-Turkish deal.
What's behind NATO's change of heart?
Koller
recalled that historically NATO was designed to ensure the security
of the Atlantic region and northwestern part of Europe from the Warsaw
Pact bloc, which ceased to exist 25 years ago. "In this context Turkey's
membership in NATO looks pretty funny," the military analyst remarked.
On October 25, General Pavel warned of "consequences" for Turkey
should Ankara buy the Russian-made weapons. He highlighted that
Turkey's intention to buy the S-400 air defense system would prevent
Ankara from being integrated into the NATO air defense system and also
risk other technical restrictions.
"The principal of sovereignty obviously exists in acquisition of defense equipment, but in the same way that nations are sovereign in making their decision, they are also sovereign in facing the consequences of that decision," General Pavel said, as cited by Defense News.
However, in less than a month the chairman of NATO's Military Committee has changed his mind and told U.S. News & World Report that the alliance has to "see the situation in a very pragmatic way."
According to Koller, once purchased by the Turks the S-400 complex
will be most likely accessed by experts from NATO who are seeking
to copy the system. He referred to the Czech Republic's Tamara radar
systems, which were purchased by foreign customers who aimed to copy
their design. However, that attempt failed, the military analyst noted.
On the other hand, since the Russians decided to sell this system to a NATO country, it can be assumed that it has already developed more advanced weapons, the Czech analyst suggested.
Russia's S-400 Triumf More Effective Than US Counterpart
Ankara's decision to buy the S-400 instead of the US-made Patriot surface-to-air missile (SAM) system is quite logical, according to Koller.
"According to experts, the S-400 is a more effective missile defense system than the Patriot," the analyst emphasized. "Obviously, the Americans do not want to provide Turkey with a modernized version of the SAM."
READ MORE: S-400 vs. Patriot: Comparison of the Missile Defense Systems of Russia and US
He
drew attention to the fact that even 20-25 years ago Russia's long
range surface-to-air missile S-300 systems (NATO reporting name SA-10
Grumble) were regarded as more effective that the Patriot. Koller noted
that the development of the Russian systems was continued despite the
fact that in the 1990s some irresponsible Russian generals and
politicians allowed the Russian S-300 and S-350 systems to be sold
to NATO countries, which played into the hands of the American
intelligence agencies.
Meanwhile, Turkey's procurement of weapons from Russia comes in direct violation of anti-Russian sanctions.
According to Koller, Ankara has become a regional power that can put its own interests above the US and EU's strategies and aspirations.
What's behind NATO's change of heart?
"Turkey is an extremely important partner
for NATO, since it allows [the alliance] to strike at Russia from the
south," military analyst Martin Koller told Sputnik Czech Republic.
"This is an indisputable fact, otherwise this Muslim country simply
would not have been in NATO. After all, it is alien to the alliance both
by its geographical position and by its national composition."
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AP Photo/ Alik Keplicz
"The principal of sovereignty obviously exists in acquisition of defense equipment, but in the same way that nations are sovereign in making their decision, they are also sovereign in facing the consequences of that decision," General Pavel said, as cited by Defense News.
However, in less than a month the chairman of NATO's Military Committee has changed his mind and told U.S. News & World Report that the alliance has to "see the situation in a very pragmatic way."
"What's the alternative? Are we going to alienate Turkey
because of some issues, when at the same time we know Turkey is willing
to discuss these issues? It would be very unwise," the general
underscored.
©
Sputnik/ Grigoriy Sisoev
Recharging
an S-400 Triumf anti-aircraft weapon system during the combat duty
drills of the surface to air-misile regiment in the Moscow Region.
On the other hand, since the Russians decided to sell this system to a NATO country, it can be assumed that it has already developed more advanced weapons, the Czech analyst suggested.
Russia's S-400 Triumf More Effective Than US Counterpart
Ankara's decision to buy the S-400 instead of the US-made Patriot surface-to-air missile (SAM) system is quite logical, according to Koller.
"According to experts, the S-400 is a more effective missile defense system than the Patriot," the analyst emphasized. "Obviously, the Americans do not want to provide Turkey with a modernized version of the SAM."
READ MORE: S-400 vs. Patriot: Comparison of the Missile Defense Systems of Russia and US
©
Sputnik/ Sergey Malgavko
According to Koller, Ankara has become a regional power that can put its own interests above the US and EU's strategies and aspirations.
"Turkey is a state once ruled with the firm
hand of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and now [it is being ruled] with the firm
hand of President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, who does not agree to be
someone's pawn and serve other nations' interests," the Czech military
analyst concluded.
Earlier this month, while commenting on Ankara's decision to purchase
the S-400, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim explained that Ankara wanted to get its air defense systems from NATO member countries, but that it "could not get the necessary support from the US."
"The fact that we have entered defense
cooperation with Russia does not downplay the importance of our
obligations as a NATO member. We do not intend to abandon NATO. We only
need such cooperation with Russia in order to eliminate the looming
threats to Turkey," Yildirim said, as quoted by The Hurriyet newspaper.
The Turkish prime minister underscored that Ankara was forced to make
this choice due to the fact that the Turkish Air Force failed
to destroy 71 missiles fired on Turkey from the territory of Syria,
which resulted in at least 29 people being killed.