Washington’s threat to freeze the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Ankara runs contrary to “strategic” US-Turkey relations, the deputy chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party, Mehdi Eker, told RIA Novosti. Earlier, US lawmakers vowed to call off the long-expected sale in response to Turkey’s plans to buy S-400 surface-to-air missile batteries from Russia. “We respect other countries’ preferences in defense sphere. That’s why we expect other countries to respect our preferences,” Eker said.