Commenting on US Senator Cardin's letter urging sanctions against Turkey over its purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems, Ilter Turan, professor of international relations at Istanbul Bilgi University in Turkey and President of the International Political Science Association, specifically pointed to the fact that Ankara's decision to buy the S-400 systems is completely in sync with international law.
"In terms of international law, there seems to be no reason why the United States should have anything to say about whom Turkey should acquire weapons from," Turan said.
He recalled that it is something that "was made quite clear by NATO which described Turkey's decision to buy the S-400 as the country's 'sovereign prerogative'."
"I hope that the Trump Administration will have enough common sense to recognize this decision," he added.
When asked how it may affect US-Turkey ties, Turan said that "there have been problems pertaining to bilateral relations" and that it is only natural that the two NATO members have disagreements within the alliance.
At the same time, he suggested that the sanctions wouldn’t be slapped on Turkey and that bilateral ties will not be seriously damaged.
"There are too many common interests to make this a major issue of contention," Turan said.
Last Thursday, US Democratic Party Senator Ben Cardin, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter to the US administration, in which he noted that Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems warrants an automatic imposition of sanctions against Ankara.
Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara had made the first payment for the Russian S-400 systems.
In response to Washington's "furious" reaction to the matter, Erdogan stressed that Turkey is "the host in its own country."
The S-400 is a next-generation Russian air defense system. It carries three different types of missiles capable of destroying aerial targets at short-to-extremely-long ranges. It is designed to track and destroy various types of aerial targets, from reconnaissance aircraft to ballistic missiles.
