Intel: Why Turkey is intent on proceeding with Russian arms deal

The first shipment of the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system will arrive in Turkey “within one week or 10 days,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced yesterday, a day after President Donald Trump came to his defense on the volatile matter.

Why it matters: The delivery will be hard evidence that Turkey’s arms deal with Russia is going forward, paving the way for US sanctions against Ankara under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

However, Erdogan has been counting on his personal relations with Trump to shield Turkey from potential sanctions, and his American counterpart’s remarks June 29 showed why Erdogan may be holding out hope. President Trump struck a positive tone during their meeting in Osaka, Japan, saying that Erdogan’s government had been treated unfairly on this issue.

“He wasn’t allowed by the Obama administration to buy it until after he made a deal to buy other missiles," Trump said. "So he buys the other missiles and then all of sudden, they say, ‘Well, you can now buy our missiles.’ You can’t do business that way. It’s not good.”