Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan talks to media after the Eid Al Fitr prayers in Istanbul. Reuters
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan talks to media after the Eid Al Fitr prayers in Istanbul. Reuters
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan talks to media after the Eid Al Fitr prayers in Istanbul. Reuters
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan talks to media after the Eid Al Fitr prayers in Istanbul. Reuters

US and Turkey on “collision course” as Erdogan confirms Russia’s S-400 deal


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Washington and Ankara are on a collision course over Turkey's purchase of Russian missile systems, analysts say, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed his “determination” to complete the deal in the face of American opposition.

With less than a month left before the first of Russia’s S-400 missile defence system arrives in Turkey, the window for a breakthrough between Washington and Ankara on is narrowing.

Speaking to reporters in Ankara on Tuesday, Mr Erdogan made it clear he will not cancel the deal, despite the US warning of sanctions and axing Turkey's purchase and production of the next generation stealth multirole F35 fighter jet – the largest and most expensive weapons system ever produced – due to the "unacceptable risk" it posed.

"There is an agreement. We have determination. It is out of the question to take a step back from it,” Mr Erdogan said.

One of the proposals floated by the US is to grant Turkey Raytheon’s Patriot missile system as an alternative to Russia’s S-400, but Mr Erdogan said such a bargain remains insufficient. “Unfortunately we haven't received a positive proposal from the American side on the subject of Patriots like the S-400s from Russia,” he said.

One of the main aspects of the Russian deal that the US does not appear to have offered is for Ankara to receive the sensitive missile technology behind the equipment as well as a deal to help develop and produce future iterations of the system.

From the US side, officials have maintained that discussions continue in hopes of delaying the delivery of the S-400 and averting a clash with a NATO ally. A US defence official told The National that "robust discussions continue with our Turkish counterparts…however, we have been clear that purchasing the S-400 would create an unacceptable risk." He warned that "[the S-400] radar system could provide the Russian military sensitive information on the F-35 [aircraft]."

The official was firm that “those concerns cannot be mitigated” and said Turkey’s participation in the F-35 program has been discussed if it acquires the S-400. Turkey has been a member of the Joint Strike Fighter program that it joined in 2002, and has at least 100 F-35 fighters on order from the United States. This membership and those deliveries are at risk if it acquires the S-400.

But experts saw a shrinking room for compromise with initial deliveries for the S-400 planned for July. Nicholas Danforth, a senior visiting fellow at the German Marshall Fund, summed up the standoff as such “barring any clear evidence that Turkey has agreed to delay the S-400 delivery or the US Congress has agreed to delay sanctions, it’s safe to assume we are still on a collision course.”

Mr Danforth told The National that a US-Turkey joint working group announced last week is not enough to avoid a collision. "Proposing a study group while insisting the S-400 purchase is a done deal will not satisfy those in Washington pushing for sanctions," he said.

Ryan Bohl, a Middle East and North Africa analyst at US intelligence firm Stratfor, argued that even if the White House settles for a deal with Turkey, the delivery of the S-400 will immediately trigger a clash with Congress. Mr Trump and Mr Erdogan held a phone call last Thursday.

"There is a major disconnect on the US side which is confusing things," Mr Bohl said. "Congress is adamant that no S-400 should be delivered, but it appears that Mr Trump is trying to make a deal anyway," the expert told The National.
The US President "could opt to refuse or delay the sanctions, while he still tries to negotiate with Mr Erdogan, but we just don't see Mr Erdogan giving up the S-400 for any offer."

“That's a collision course between Congress and Turkey,” Mr Bohl said.

Laws drafted by Congress such as the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) will immediately slap sanctions on Turkey if the S-400 equipment is delivered. Another Senate bill under consideration would block F-35 deliveries to Turkey and oust it from the production consortium over the purchase of Russian equipment.

The US House of Representatives is considering a similar bill to the Senate, called “Protecting NATO Skies Act of 2019.”

It threatens that “proceeding with the S-400 is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”

Reuters also reported last week that Washington was seriously considering suspending training for Turkish pilots who are already in the US on the F-35 jets if the S-400 issue is not resolved.

Hili 2: Unesco World Heritage site

The site is part of the Hili archaeological park in Al Ain. Excavations there have proved the existence of the earliest known agricultural communities in modern-day UAE. Some date to the Bronze Age but Hili 2 is an Iron Age site. The Iron Age witnessed the development of the falaj, a network of channels that funnelled water from natural springs in the area. Wells allowed settlements to be established, but falaj meant they could grow and thrive. Unesco, the UN's cultural body, awarded Al Ain's sites - including Hili 2 - world heritage status in 2011. Now the most recent dig at the site has revealed even more about the skilled people that lived and worked there.

MATCH INFO

Leeds United 0

Brighton 1 (Maupay 17')

Man of the match: Ben White (Brighton)

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The Facility’s Versatility

Between the start of the 2020 IPL on September 20, and the end of the Pakistan Super League this coming Thursday, the Zayed Cricket Stadium has had an unprecedented amount of traffic.
Never before has a ground in this country – or perhaps anywhere in the world – had such a volume of major-match cricket.
And yet scoring has remained high, and Abu Dhabi has seen some classic encounters in every format of the game.
 
October 18, IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad
The two playoff-chasing sides put on 163 apiece, before Kolkata went on to win the Super Over
 
January 8, ODI, UAE beat Ireland by six wickets
A century by CP Rizwan underpinned one of UAE’s greatest ever wins, as they chased 270 to win with an over to spare
 
February 6, T10, Northern Warriors beat Delhi Bulls by eight wickets
The final of the T10 was chiefly memorable for a ferocious over of fast bowling from Fidel Edwards to Nicholas Pooran
 
March 14, Test, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets
Eleven wickets for Rashid Khan, 1,305 runs scored in five days, and a last session finish
 
June 17, PSL, Islamabad United beat Peshawar Zalmi by 15 runs
Usman Khawaja scored a hundred as Islamabad posted the highest score ever by a Pakistan team in T20 cricket

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.