Erdogan says Turkey, France and Italy will take steps on missile defence

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrives for the G20 leaders summit in Rome, Italy October 30, 2021. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

ANKARA (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that Turkey would take "positive steps" with France and Italy on the SAMP-T missile defence system developed by the Franco-Italian EUROSAM consortium.

Ankara, which has incurred U.S. sanctions over its purchase of Russian S-400 missile defence batteries, has also discussed in recent years acquiring or developing a system based on the SAMP-T, but has so far made little apparent progress.