Earlier that day, at the same conference, Cavusoglu had, once again, affirmed Turkey’s intention to purchase the S-400.
“It’s a done deal,” Turkey’s Foreign Minister affirmed. “We will not step back,” he said, asserting, “Turkey doesn’t have to choose between Russia and any others.”
Several hours later, however, Pence stated the opposite.
Later on Wednesday, Cavusoglu met with Pompeo, who “expressed support for ongoing negotiations regarding northeast Syria,” while he warned “of the potentially devastating consequences of unilateral Turkish military action in the region,” according to a State Department readout of the meeting.
Pompeo also expressed “his concerns” about Turkey’s “potential acquisition” of the S-400, while he complained about Ankara’s arrest of US citizens, urging a “swift resolution” of those “cases involving unjustly detained” Americans.
Somewhat remarkably, the Turkish Foreign Ministry then issued a statement disputing the State Department account, claiming the US summary was “obviously prepared before the meeting,” while it “fails to reflect the content of the meeting,” and “contains matters that were not even raised.”
Yet a third meeting Cavusoglu held on Wednesday also spoke to the increasingly strained relations between Ankara and Washington.
The Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Eliot Engel (D, New York), and the committee’s senior Republican, Rep. Michael McCaul (R, Texas), met with Cavusoglu.
Like Pence and Pompeo, the congressmen cautioned Cavusoglu about Turkey’s planned S-400 purchase—and they did so in language that echoed Pence’s warning that Ankara could be risking its NATO status.
Describing the meeting with Cavusoglu as “frank,” a statement from the Foreign Affairs Republican Press Office explained that the congressmen “made clear our opposition to Turkey’s plan to acquire the Russian-made S-400 missile system,” adding that it “could jeopardize Turkey’s participation in the Trans Atlantic alliance.”
Turkey’s government “must choose to demonstrate its continued commitment to the NATO alliance,” the congressmen warned.