Nato's crisis over Turkey's switch to Moscow.

MY TIMES PIECE TODAY Nato is facing an unprecedented crisis after yesterday’s official cancellation by the Trump administration of Turkey’s purchase of America’s most advanced stealth fighter jet. The action taken against Turkey, a key member of the alliance, was in retaliation for President Erdogan’s decision to go ahead with buying Russia’s S-400 anti-aircraft system, which is not interoperable with Nato’s air-defence systems. Pentagon officials said that the axing of Turkey’s engagement in the multibillion-dollar F-35 programme was unavoidable. They said Russian technical advisers assisting Turkey’s operation of the S-400 weapon system could glean intelligence of the aircraft’s super-stealth technology. The decisions by Ankara and Washington will mean that once the S-400s are operational— the first parts have arrived — Turkey will no longer be fully part of Nato’s air-defence networks, which play a crucial role in deterring Russian military aggression against the Western alliance. “Potentially this is very serious for Nato,” a senior alliance diplomatic source said. “We’re waiting to see how the Turkish president reacts. “Erdogan has already demonstrated he has an ambiguous relationship with Nato after his turning to Russia. “It now depends on how serious people want it to go. What will happen is currently unknowable but the alliance is facing a very rocky time because we have the nation with the largest army in the alliance [Turkey] in a row with the largest spender [US].” Turkey’s purchase of the S-400 — and the rejection of the American Patriot air-defence programme — has raised serious doubts about continued military co-operation with Turkey. Pentagon officials insisted that the formal decision to ban Turkey’s military from receiving any F-35s would not change the vital strategic relationship with the country. However, there are question marks over future military exercises in which the use of Turkish airspace would play an important part. Questions are also being raised about Nato’s use of the Turkish airbase at Incirlik, in the south of the country. US fighters fly from Incirlik to mount patrols over Syria. It is also one of six European bases where the US stores a total of about 150 B61 tactical nuclear bombs. The others are in Germany, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands. Although the Pentagon has been warning Ankara for months that its purchase of the Russian weapon system would jeopardise Turkey’s participation in the F-35 fighter-jet programme, ambivalent signals from the White House appeared to have given confidence to President Erdogan that his country would be able to buy the 100 fighters on order. However, senior Pentagon officials made it clear that Turkey was now excommunicated from the F-35 project. The four F-35s that Turkey has purchased are still in the US and will remain there. The rest of the 100-plane order is cancelled. All of the Turkish pilots and air crews training on the F-35 at Luke air-force base in Arizona have been told to leave the US by July 31. “Turkey’s decision to purchase the Russian S-400 air-defence systems renders its continued involvement with the F-35 impossible, “ the White House said yesterday. “The F-35 cannot coexist with a Russian intelligence-collection platform [the S-400] that will be used to learn about its advanced capabilities.”