UPDATE – 'Turkey to buy S-400s, but also open to Patriot offer'

ADDS MORE REMARKS </p> <p>By Fatih Hafiz Mehmet</p> <p>ANKARA (AA) – Turkey will not change course on buying the S-400 missile defense system from Russia, but the country could also accept a &quot;good offer&quot; on U.S. Patriot missiles, the country's president said Tuesday.</p> <p>Changing course on Turkey's deal to purchase the S-400s is &quot;definitely&quot; out of the question, Recep Tayyip Erdogan told private channel NTV.</p> <p>&quot;Regarding the Patriot issue, if you [the U.S.] provide us good conditions, we are open to that as well. We have to work with alternatives,&quot; Erdogan stressed.</p> <p>After protracted efforts to purchase air defense systems from the U.S. with no success, Ankara decided in 2017 to buy Russia’s S-400 air defense system.</p> <p>- EU-Arab summit</p> <p>Criticizing EU countries for attending a summit hosted by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Erdogan said EU leaders lecture Turkey about executions, then pose for pictures with a man who has executed 42 Egyptians since coming to power and nine young people only last week, referring to al-Sisi.</p> <p> The two-day summit in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Sunday and Monday saw heavy attendance by European officials</p> <p> <p>Egypt executed nine men on Feb. 20 who were accused of killing the country’s former top prosecutor. Hisham Barakat was assassinated in 2015 when a car bomb destroyed his vehicle.</p> <p> Earlier this month, Egyptian authorities executed another six people in two separate cases for the murder of a judge’s son and a senior police officer. </p> <p>Egypt has remained beset by violence and turmoil since the army deposed Mohamed Morsi, the country's first freely elected president, in a 2013 coup.</p> <p>- Clearing Manbij from terrorists</p> <p> Turkey's main goal now is completely clearing the terrorist PYD/YPG from Manbij, Syria, and their weapons will be taken back by the U.S. as it promised, Erdogan said.</p> <p>The June 2018 Manbij deal between Turkey and the U.S. focuses on the withdrawal of YPG/PKK terrorists from the city to stabilize the region, which is located in the northern part of Syria’s Aleppo province.</p> <p>He went on to say that Syrians trust Turkey so much that the tribes there constantly call for it to take action in Manbij.</p> <p>Turkey has vowed to carry out a counter-terrorist operation in Syria, east of the Euphrates, following two similar successful operations since 2016.</p> <p>Ankara has repeatedly criticized the U.S. for supplying weapons to the terrorist YPG/PKK, ostensibly for fighting the Daesh terror group, arguing that using one terrorist group to fight another makes no sense.</p> <p>In its 30-year terrorist campaign, the PKK has taken some 40,000 lives, including women and children. The YPG is its Syrian branch.