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Turkey will not abandon its rights and interests in the eastern Mediterranean due to potential sanctions or criticism from the European Union, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Monday (December 14), the day the United States effectively sanctioned Ankara for another. reason.
At a summit on Friday, EU leaders agreed to prepare limited sanctions against Turkish citizens over a dispute with Greece and Cyprus over offshore energy exploration, but postponed discussions on any tougher measures until March.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said after the summit that EU leaders planned to discuss arms exports to Turkey with allies of the NATO military alliance after Greece pushed for an arms embargo on Ankara.
According to the latest official data from the Stockholm International Peace Institute (SIPRI), Turkey’s main arms suppliers in 2015-2019 were the United States (38% of imports), Italy (24%) and Spain (19%) .
Answering questions in parliament as part of the annual budget talks, Çavuşoğlu said: “It is out of the question that we abandon our rights and interests in the eastern Mediterranean because we will face sanctions or the EU will criticize us.”
Earlier on Monday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was upset that the United States and the EU were moving forward with sanctions processes against Turkey, and said Turkey hoped that the EU “will not sanction it, but will fulfill its promise to be full member (EU) “.
The United States imposes sanctions
Washington on Monday imposed the long-anticipated sanctions on Turkey’s top defense procurement and development body, its president and three other employees for their acquisition of Russia’s S-400 air defense systems last year.
The US Congress required sanctions for major military purchases from Russia under a 2017 law known as CAATSA.
“Today’s action sends a clear signal that the United States will fully implement Section 231 of CAATSA and will not tolerate significant transactions with Russia’s defense and intelligence sectors,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.
The US sanctions would also block specific US export licenses for any product or technology transferred to the Defense Industries Directorate (SSB), which is Turkey’s main defense procurement and development body.
Analysts said the targeted move would mainly bypass the wider Turkish economy.
Turkey condemned the US sanctions as a “grave mistake” and threatened to retaliate for a move it said would damage ties between NATO allies.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry called the decision “inexplicable” given that Washington repeatedly rejected Ankara’s offer to form a joint task force to allay US concerns that S-400s threatened NATO defenses.
“We call on the United States to review the unjust sanctions (and) to move away from this serious mistake as soon as possible,” he said. “Turkey stands ready to tackle the problem through dialogue and diplomacy in a manner worthy of the spirit of alliance.”
The sanctions “will inevitably negatively affect our relations, and (Turkey) will retaliate in whatever way and at the time it deems appropriate,” the ministry added.
In the recent past, Turkey has warned that the United States could be banned from using two strategic air bases in retaliation for potential US sanctions.
The United States says Turkey’s determination to use the S-400s, acquired from Moscow in 2019, left it no choice, given that the F-35 jets and other shared defenses would be vulnerable to NATO’s enemy Russia. Turkey has said surface-to-air missiles will not connect to NATO systems and pose no threat.
S-400 technology makes it easier for Turkey to fight a NATO ally, such as Greece.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the US sanctions on Turkey “another manifestation of an arrogant attitude towards international law” by Washington, which applies its own “illegitimate unilateral coercive measures.”
Turkey has expressed hope for a fresh start next month when President-elect Joe Biden takes office, but Biden has indicated that he will take a firmer approach than Trump.
Biden during his campaign called Erdogan an “autocrat” and promised to work to empower the opposition.
