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Last year, Turkey imported Russia’s S-400 missile defense system, enraging NATO. Now the US government has imposed sanctions on Ankara. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said punitive measures would be imposed on the Defense Industry Directorate (SSB).
The leadership is subordinate to the office of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The sanctions included a ban on all US export licenses and permits for the SSB, Pompeo said. All assets of SSB chief Ismail Demir and other executives in the US would be frozen and would also be subject to entry restrictions.
Turkish President Erdogan confirmed tests of the system by the Turkish military in October. In response to criticism from Washington, Erdogan stressed that the United States would not be asked for permission to do so.
The United States government had repeatedly warned the Ankara government against the use of the Russian S-400 missile defense system and had threatened punitive measures. The Pentagon had criticized that the use of the system was not compatible with Turkey’s obligations as a NATO partner. NATO had also warned that the S-400 system could not be integrated into the alliance’s air defense and anti-missile system.
The basis for US sanctions is the Caatsa Act (“Countering American Adversaries Through the Sanctions Act”) of 2017. Under it, the US President can impose punitive measures against a third party in a “major transaction” with the defense sector of the Russian government. Among other things, the president can order that those affected be denied U.S. export permits, that U.S. financial institutions not be allowed to grant them loans, that their U.S. possessions be frozen, or that they be barred from entering U.S.
Turkey already excluded from the F-35 program
The United States feared that Russia could use the sensitive radar of the S-400 weapons system to obtain data on the stealth capabilities of the F-35 aircraft. Ankara was a partner in the construction of the F-35 fighter jet and wanted to buy many of the planes. Due to the arms deal with Moscow, the United States has already excluded Turkey from the F-35 program. A few days ago, Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and James Lankford wrote in a guest article for the Wall Street Journal that the use of Russian “advisers” and S-400 radar near F-35 fighter jets was unacceptable.
Ankara and Moscow signed the contract for Turkey to purchase the S-400 system in September 2017. The first delivery took place last year. Erdogan argues that Turkey needs its own missile defense system against threats from neighboring Syria, a country with a civil war, but also from Germany. According to Ankara, Turkey has not received any reasonable alternative offers from its allies.
The S-400 is a mobile air defense system that can shoot aircraft, projectiles, and other objects out of the sky. The units, which usually consist of several missiles, a radar and a command post, can be transported by truck. The S-400 can work with short, medium and long-range missiles.
