Akif Kılıç

Türkiye’s S-400 Dispute Still Blocks a Deeper U.S. Defense Relationship

Akif Çağatay Kılıç, Türkiye’s chief adviser on national security and foreign policy, argues that Ankara’s geography requires it to keep working relationships open across rival blocs, from NATO and the EU to Russia, Ukraine and Iran. He presents Türkiye as a venue for diplomacy rather than a power able to dictate settlements, while acknowledging that its own defense ties with the United States remain constrained by the unresolved dispute over its Russian S-400 system and access to F-35 aircraft.