OREANDA-NEWS  Turkey has not succumbed to US sanctions pressure against Russia, there is high trust between Ankara and Moscow, the head of the influential Turkish Center for the Study of Public Opinion Optimar, analyst Hilmi Dashdemir, told RIA Novosti, commenting on the situation around bank transfers between the two countries.

Turkish banks are under increased pressure from the United States due to transactions with Russia and regularly receive warnings about the need for strict control of the sources of funds transferred, an informed source in the local financial market told RIA Novosti earlier. Russian Ambassador to Turkey Alexey Yerkhov told RIA Novosti that the method of threats, pressure and blatant blackmail of Turkish businessmen due to cooperation with Russia has entered the arsenal of the West, they receive threatening calls from foreign embassies.

According to him, the current problem is primarily related to the "system of imposition of the United States and the collective West."

"Various steps are being taken on a global scale to overcome this (imposition). But if you look at the situation, it is not necessary to say that Turkey has completely succumbed to US sanctions pressure," the analyst stressed.

According to the head of an influential Turkish research center, it is enough to recall the story of Ankara's purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems, when the Turkish side was subjected to pressure and sanctions.

In 2017, Turkey signed a contract with Russia for the supply of the S-400 regimental kit, which it received in the summer and autumn of 2019. At the same time, the United States demanded to abandon Russian systems in favor of Patriot, but Ankara did not go for it. As punishment, Washington excluded Turkey from the supply program of the latest F-35 fighter jets and imposed sanctions against the heads of the military-industrial complex under the CAATSA law ("On Countering America's Adversaries through Sanctions"). The United States cancelled the joint memorandum on the F-35 with Turkey, signing it with the seven remaining partners in the F-35 project - Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, Denmark, Canada and Norway.

"Plus, Turkey's cooperation with Rosatom on the construction of the largest Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey. There is a clear understanding that the NPP will cover 10% of Turkey's energy needs. A number of oil companies, whose center is located in the West, were against this project, but Turkey insisted," the analyst added.