![The final parts of the second battery of Russian S-400 missile defense system arrive at Murted Airbase in Ankara, Turkey on 15 September 2019. [TURKISH NATIONAL DEFENSE MINISTRY / HANDOUT - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/d2.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/20190915_2_38223810_47599437.jpg?fit=920%2C613&ssl=1)
The United States Department of Defence called on Turkey to take action and remove Russian S-400 missiles from its territory, reiterating the security threat to NATO defence systems in the country.
On Tuesday, the press secretary John F. Kirby said: “We urge Turkey not to move ahead with the delivery of the S-400.”
“We believe it’s incompatible with the F-35 [jets], and Turkey remains suspended from that program. Again, we urge them not to retain it,” he continued.
The US removed Turkey from the F-35 jet global partnership programme in July 2019 after Ankara purchased Russia’s S-400 air defence system, setting a course which severely damaged relations between the NATO allies.
Last week, Turkey’s defence industry hired one of the United States’ most prestigious law firms in efforts to re-enter the F-35 fighter jet programme.
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