US set to sanction Turkey over Russian defense system
The United States is poised to impose sanctions on Turkey over its acquisition last year of Russian S-400 air defense systems, five sources including two US officials told Reuters on Thursday, a move more likely to worsen already problematic ties between your two NATO allies.The long-anticipated step, which is likely to infuriate Ankara and severely complicate relations with the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden, could be announced any evening, sources said.
The sanctions would target Turkey's Presidency of Defense Industries and its own head, Ismail Demir, sources have said. They would be damaging but narrower than the severe scenarios some analysts have outlined. The Turkish lira weakened around 1.4 percent following the news. US sanctions can harm a Turkish economy fighting a coronavirus-induced slowdown, double-digit inflation and badly depleted foreign reserves.
A good senior Turkish official said sanctions would backfire and hurt ties between the two NATO members. "Sanctions would not achieve a result but be counter-productive. They might harm relations," the state said."Turkey is and only solving these issues with diplomacy and negotiations. We won't accept one-sided impositions," he said.
The decision could have repercussions far beyond Turkey, sending a note to US partners around the world who might consider buying Russian military equipment and also have been warned repeatedly about US sanctions. Turkey's innovator, President Tayyip Erdogan, got hoped to prove US threats hollow, betting the relationship he developed with US President Donald Trump would insulate Ankara from punitive US action.
Having forged a working romance with Erdogan, Trump long opposed US sanctions against Turkey regardless of the information of advisers. Officials in his administration internally advised sanctions against Ankara in July 2019, when the Turkish government started bringing delivery of the S-400s, sources familiar with the problem told Reuters.
