Ankara - Turkey received the fifteenth shipment of components for Russian-made S-400 antiaircraft systems on Thursday, in a context of escalated tensions with the United States. The first shipment arrived in the Murted air base, northwest of this capital, on July 12, and the operation continues as planned, the Ministry of Defense said in a communiqué.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Foreign Ministry criticized Washington's stance when it announced on Wednesday its decision to suspend Ankara's participation in the program to develop the F-35 fighters.

'This unilateral step contradicts the spirit of the Alliance (NATO) and it is not based on any legitimate justification. It is not fair to set Turkey, a key partner, aside from that program or to say that the S-400s compromise the development of the F-35 fighters,' the Foreign Ministry noted.

Turkey's decision to buy two Russia-made antiaircraft defense systems, worth 2.5 billion dollars, resulted from an agreement that was signed on December 29, 2017, and has generated strong opposition by the United States, which has repeatedly tried to make that transfer fail.

Washington claims that the Russian technology might be used to get critical information covertly on the F-35 fighters, including their range of detection, which has been denied by Turkey.