The Turkish president said he expected his relationship with the US President would shield him from economic punishment. It comes after Mr Erdogan claimed the deal to purchase Russian-built S-400 missile systems was finally completed. It was a move that may provoke the Trump administration to take action against the country – and exemplified Erdogan as a political maverick.
Meeting foreign media for the first time in years, the Turkish president said: “I say this very openly and sincerely, our relations with Trump are at a place that I can call really good.
“America has a problem, we have very different relations with Trump, but our relations with people working under Trump is totally different.
“Therefore, I do not believe there will be any sanctions.
“In the event of any issues, we immediately work the phones.
“The US has to think about this very carefully. We will have sanctions of our own.”
Erdogan has enjoyed good relations with Mr Trump - but risks angering Washington (Image: GETTY)
Turkey will receive S-400 missiles from Russia (Image: GETTY)
Last week Turkey fired a warning shot at Washington stating that they would immediately reciprocate any sanctions that the US placed on