Whereas the United States and Turkey have been treaty allies since 1952, when Turkey became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); Whereas the United States and Turkey are treaty bound to safeguard the principles of democracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law, as well as to unite their efforts for collective defense and the preservation of peace and security; Whereas Turkey is in a unique geostrategic position on NATO’s southeastern flank, at the confluence of Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and the Caucasus; Whereas Turkey is a critical NATO ally and important military partner for the United States, contributing to key NATO and United States missions and providing support for United States military operations and logistics needs; Whereas Turkey permits United States military access to Turkish territorial waters, airspace, and base and port facilities, and hosts over 2,000 members of the United States Armed Forces, air defense equipment, and other equipment necessary to conduct global operations and power projection; Whereas Turkey is a key player in the long-term strategic competition Western allies face with revisionist powers such as Russia and China; Whereas despite the fact that Turkey shares key regional interests with the United States, its cooperation with Russia and Iran, its military occupation of northern Cyprus, its rollback of democratic norms and institutions, including attacks on the free press, and its continued unjust detention of United States citizens and locally employed United States Embassy staff is deeply problematic for the United States-Turkey relationship; Whereas the United States recognizes that Turkey perceives growing regional security threats from aircraft and ballistic missiles and sees an urgent need for a new air and missile defense system; Whereas Turkey announced an agreement to acquire the S–400 air and missile defense system from Russia in July 2017 and has publicly stated it could take delivery as early as July 2019