Washington Should Demand Turkey Donate its S-400 Missiles to Ukraine and the U.S.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the United States to lift a broad array of sanctions that impede the ability of the two NATO allies to hit long-term bilateral trade targets. The request comes during a period of strained ties between Washington and Ankara, testing the Biden administration’s commitment to compelling Turkey to abandon its adversarial policies towards its Western allies.

Speaking to business representatives on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly annual meeting on September 24, Erdogan stated it would be impossible for Ankara and Washington to achieve their long-term cooperative trade and security goals if the United States does not abandon “additional tariffs in the iron, steel, and aluminum sectors, probes and the CAATSA sanctions,” referring to the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. The tariffs in question are a holdover from the Trump administration’s decision to increase tariffs on U.S. steel imports from Turkey following Turkey’s incursion into northeast Syria against the Kurds in October 2019.

Ankara is most interested in lifting the CAATSA sanction that resulted in Turkey’s exclusion from purchasing F-35 joint strike fighters. The Trump administration removed Turkey from the F-35 program in 2019 after Erdogan purchased the Russian S-400 air defense system, which would compromise the F-35’s classified stealth capabilities and potentially allow the Russian military to develop the ability to track the jets. 

Yet both Washington and Ankara are reportedly floating solutions to the S-400 disagreement, including a proposal brought to Turkey by American officials to transfer the system to the U.S.-leased part of the Incirlik Air Base in Adana, a city in southern Turkey. While no deal has been reached, the Biden administration seems open to reaching a compromise that would welcome Turkey back into the F-35 program in return for Ankara allowing the United States to either take control of or closely monitor the S-400s. 

Erdogan has a vested interest in increasing defense cooperation with the United States, as Turkey’s domestically produced fifth-generation Kaan fighters are not likely to be ready before 2030, and Greece’s acquisition of F-35s leaves Ankara’s air force comparatively obsolete. Erdogan may be assuming that Washington is willing to make concessions as evidenced by the Biden administration’s agreement in January to sell Turkey F-16s in a deal that rewards Erdogan for lifting his objections to Sweden joining NATO.

It appears that Erdogan believes he can benefit from lucrative defense support from Washington and NATO while continuing to undermine their interests, including through Turkey’s material support for the terrorist group Hamas, its support of Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine, and its aspirations to join Russian-led and Chinese-led organizations like BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Washington should not consider lifting CAATSA sanctions until Ankara verifiably divests itself of the S-400s. Given Erdogan’s strong desire to acquire new fighter jets, the Biden administration should exploit its strong bargaining position. Rather than simply wait for Ankara to remove the S-400s from Turkey, Biden should insist that Ankara provide one battery of S-400s to the United States. Turkey should additionally donate its remaining S-400 inventory to the Ukrainian military to help with Kyiv’s ongoing war effort against Russia. A resolution to the S-400 impasse along these lines would demonstrate Ankara’s commitment to its NATO allies and allow the United States to study an important instrument of an adversary’s defensive capabilities.

Sinan Ciddi is a non-resident senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where Sophia Epley is an intern. Sophia is also a student at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. For more analysis from Sinan and Sophia, please subscribe HERE. Follow Sinan on X @SinanCiddi. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.