Turkey says buying Russian defense system should not trigger US sanctions

Turkey's purchase of a Russian air defense missile system should not trigger US sanctions because Ankara is not an adversary of Washington and remains committed to the NATO alliance, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Monday.
Speaking at a US-Turkey conference in Washington amid rising tensions between the two NATO allies over Ankara's plan to buy the Russian S-400 missile system, Akar adopted a relatively conciliatory tone and urged to resolve issues via dialogue.
"Turkey is clearly not an adversary of the United States," Akar said and added that therefore its procurement of the S-400 system should not be considered within the scope of US sanctions designed to target America's enemies.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last week that Washington had told Ankara it could face retribution for buying the S-400s under a sanctions law known as Countering America's...