US Sanctions Turkey, Europe Says Game Must Stop

U.S. president Donald Trump sanctioned Turkey for its acquisition of the S-400 air missile defense system, according to the final version of the annual defense policy bill, released on Thursday.

Trump has called for sanctioning Turkey according to the 2017 Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act; nonetheless, CAATSA, the defense bill would order that five or more sanctions under CAATSA be imposed within 30 days.

The mission may fall to the Trump administration if the bill is not signed after next week. Otherwise, it will be up to the president-elect Joe Biden, who will inaugurated on January 20.

NATO says the S-400s represent a major threat to the military alliance, endangering the F-35's technical secrets.

The language, sought by Democrats and the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee  Sen. Jim Risch, shall determine that Turkey's purchase of the S-400 worth $ 2.5 billion constitutes a “significant transaction” under CAATSA, which imposes sanctions against any country aiming at defense material from Russia.

The president can only lift the sanctions when he absolutely guarantees that Turkey no longer has an S-400 system.

In the same context, European Council President Charles Michel mentioned that EU was ready impose sanctions on Turkey in order to deal with its behavior, pointing that “The game of cat-and-mouse must end.”

Bob Menendez,  a Democratic member in Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also praised the inclusion of the sanctions in the $740.5 billion, 4,517-page National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA.

“Incredibly proud to have helped secure inclusion of a provision in the NDAA to do what President Trump refused to do: Officially determine on behalf of the U.S. gov that #Turkey took delivery of Russian S-400 defense systems and therefore will be sanctioned under existing law,” Menendez said in a tweet.

[embed]https://twitter.com/SenatorMenendez/status/1334661960537923585?s=08[/embed]

On his part, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in October, challenged the U.S. to impose sanctions over its involvement in the now-quiet conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

“We stepped in for the F-35, you threatened us,” Erdogan stated. “You said, ‘Send the S-400s back to Russia.’ We are not a tribal state. We are Turkey.”