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US imposes sanctions on Turkey over Russian missile system
| Reading time: 3 minutes
US President Donald Trump (right) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a 2019 meeting at the White House
What: REUTERS
The United States has long been warning Turkey against using the Russian S-400 missile defense system. The Ankara government has ignored this and is now being punished by Washington for it.
WThe United States is imposing sanctions on its NATO ally, Turkey, due to the use of the Russian S-400 missile defense system. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced in Washington on Monday that punitive measures would be imposed on the Defense Industry Directorate (SSB).
The leadership is subordinate to the office of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The sanctions included a ban on all US export licenses and permits for SSBs, 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.
Turkey strongly condemned the US sanctions. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that Turkey would take the necessary measures against this “unfair” decision in a manner and at the right time. It was a procedure “for no reason” that the United States refused to resolve the problem with diplomacy and instead impose sanctions, he said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had confirmed tests of the system by the Turkish army in October. With a view to criticizing Washington, Erdogan stressed that the United States would not be asked for permission. 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 of the US sanctions is the Caatsa Act (“Countering US Adversaries Through Sanctions”) of 2017. According to it, the US President can impose punitive measures against a third party in a “significant transaction” with the government’s defense sector. Russian. 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.
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. Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and James Lankford wrote a few days ago 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 a contract in 2017
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 against threats from neighboring Syria, a country in 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.
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