US imposed sanctions against NATO ally: all because of Russia

On Monday, December 14, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on NATO ally Turkey for its purchase of a Russian missile defense system, a long-awaited move that comes just weeks before President Donald Trump leaves office. USA Today.

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The new sanctions include a ban on all US export licenses and loans from Turkey's defense procurement agency, as well as an asset freeze on agency president Ismail Demir, among other government officials. US officials have long warned that Ankara's purchase of the Russian system could threaten the security of the United States and Europe.

It's unclear why the Trump administration has waited so long for sanctions to be imposed. Turkey completed its acquisition of the Russian military system over a year ago.

Some congressional critics have accused Trump of being soft on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and questioned his refusal to react more aggressively to Turkey's purchase of the S-400 system in July 2019. Trump once declared himself a "big fan" of Erdogan, although the Turkish leader made a number of decisions that put him at odds with the United States.

“We very much regret that this was necessary,” Christopher Ford, a senior State Department official, told reporters during a briefing.

Matthew Palmer, deputy assistant secretary of the State Department for European and Eurasian affairs, said the move "reflects some of the fundamental problems in US-Turkey relations." He noted that Turkey has made an important contribution to NATO, but its purchase of the S-400 "is fundamentally incompatible with its obligations as a NATO ally."

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Palmer said the Trump administration "has been conducting diplomatic negotiations with the Turkish government at all levels for many months to help Turkey find a way out of the S-400 system while ensuring that legitimate national security needs are met." But Turkey rejected these efforts.

Legislators from both parties hailed the administration's actions, and said they were long overdue.

Turkey's foreign ministry has condemned the US sanctions and promised to respond.

“Turkey will take the necessary steps against this decision, which will inevitably have a negative impact on our relations, and will reciprocate in the manner and time it deems appropriate,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

After Ankara received the S-400 last year, the Trump administration decided to cancel Turkey's participation in the Pentagon's elite Joint Strike Fighter program. White House officials said the system created in Russia could be used to collect confidential data on the US F-35 fighter program, making further Turkish participation "impossible."

“Our goal was certainly not to destroy relations with such a close ally,” Ford said. He said the US wanted to make Turkey "feel the consequences of its choices" but also wanted to tread carefully in punishing a NATO partner: "That's the balance we're trying to find."

The Trump administration was legally obligated to impose some sanctions on Turkey for the S-400 deal. But she had the flexibility to determine which fines to impose and when.

The move could ease the pressure on President-elect Joe Biden as he prepares to take office, said Aykan Erdemir, who runs the Turkey program at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a national security think tank in Washington.

If the Trump administration had been inactive, he said, Biden would have been expected to impose sanctions on Ankara within a week or two of taking office. Now Biden will be able to establish medium and long term policies.

Nonetheless, Biden will face many challenges in changing US-Turkey relations, which have deteriorated significantly on other issues, including attacks on Kurdish militants in Syria.

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Erdemir said Trump has basically “shielded” Erdogan from punishment for a series of provocative decisions. In a recent analysis, he predicted that Biden would be tougher on his Turkish counterpart.

“With several flashpoints on the horizon for US-Turkey relations, a rupture may be imminent if Erdogan continues his provocations with a less forgiving leader in the White House,” Erdemir wrote in an analysis of potential Biden-Erdogan flashpoints.

Biden's press office declined to comment.

In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry urged the United States to “abandon this terrible mistake as soon as possible” and said that Ankara is ready for dialogue.

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