Turkey will not abandon its rights and interests in the eastern Mediterranean because of possible European Union sanctions or criticism, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Monday (14 December), the day when the US effectively sanctioned Ankara on another account.
At a summit on Friday, EU leaders agreed to prepare limited sanctions on Turkish individuals over a row with Greece and Cyprus about offshore energy exploration, but postponed discussions on any harsher steps until March.
Germany and Bulgaria were the most vocal among the EU countries who blocked sanctions against Turkey at the EU summit on 10 December, sources have told EURACTIV.com.
Last Updated On: Dec 18 2020 08:06 Gmt+3
After deferring action in response to Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems for nearly a year and a half, the Donald Trump administration announced on Monday the imposition of U.S. sanctions required by the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
The set of sanctions targeting the Turkish agency responsible for the procurement, Turkey’s Defence Industries Directorate (SSB), its head, İsmail Demir, and three other senior officials are narrow because Turkey is not the primary target of CAATSA.
The law was passed in 2017 largely to counter Russian interventions in Ukraine, Syria, and the 2016 U.S. presidential election, along with other measures targeting Iran and North Korea. CAATSA mandates secondary sanctions like those imposed on the SSB and its leadership as a means to deny Russia’s defence sector revenue by deterring the purchase of Russian military exports.
US blacklists four Turks over Russia arms
15. Dec 2020, 07:21
The US has blacklisted İsmail Demir, the president of Turkey s Defence Industries Directorate, a body dealing with weapons procurement, and three other of its employees, in protest that Turkey bought a Russian air-defence system. America earlier already excluded Turkey from its F-35 warplane development programme. The EU, last week, also agreed to blacklist Turkish officials linked to gas-drilling in Cypriot-claimed eastern Mediterranean waters, in a widening rift between Nato allies.
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Turkey on Monday condemned U.S. sanctions over its purchase of Russian S-400 missile defences as a “grave mistake” and threatened to retaliate over a move it said would harm ties between the NATO allies.
Washington imposed the long-anticipated sanctions on Turkey’s top defence procurement and development body, its chairman and three other employees. Analysts said the targeted move would mostly spare the broader Turkish economy.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry called the decision “inexplicable” given that Washington repeatedly rejected Ankara’s offer to form a joint working group to allay U.S. concerns that the S-400s threatened NATO defences.
Sanctioned Turkish defence industry chief expects U.S. ties to survive Reuters 15/12/2020
By Daren Butler and Dominic Evans
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey s defence industries chief said U.S. sanctions on him and his agency for buying Russian missile systems would not have a big impact on ties and may boost domestic development, though the defence minister said the move had shaken their alliance.
The sanctions, announced at a delicate moment in the fraught relations between the two NATO partners as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office, could affect contracts worth $1.5 billion to $2.3 billion, around 5% of U.S.-Turkish trade.