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Ankara said Tuesday that it had informed Washington of its response to sanctions against Turkey’s defense industry development authority. While the domestic political scene showed unusual unity against sanctions, NATO took a pro-Turkey stance.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu discussed in a telephone conversation with his US counterpart Mike Pompeo on Tuesday Washington’s decision to impose sanctions on Turkey, due to the purchase of a Russian air defense system.
“Cavusoglu relayed our response to the US decision,” the ministry said.
On Monday, Washington imposed sanctions on Ankara against Turkey’s largest defense industries development body, its president, Ismail Demir, and 3 employees.
The US Treasury said the sanctions were imposed under the Catsa Act, the US Adversaries Act. Following the announcement of the US sanctions, the Turkish lira increased by about 1%.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the sanctions against Turkey’s Defense Industries Authority were due to the purchase of the “S-400” anti-missile system.
Pompeo added that the sanctions include a ban on all US export licenses, an assets freeze and visa restrictions for the authority’s chairman, Ismail Demir, and other officials.
Undermining trust
And Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar considered that the US sanctions on his country shake all the values of the alliance between Ankara and Washington.
Akar considered that sanctions against a member state of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) would not only damage the spirit of the alliance, but would also undermine trust between the allies.
He added that the Turkish government will take all measures to protect the safety of its citizens and his country, which is under dangerous air and missile threats, as he himself said.
United front
For its part, the Turkish parliament on Tuesday showed uncommon unity of its kind in condemning the US sanctions. He said that the country would not hesitate to protect itself against threats.
In a joint statement, 4 of the five main parties in Parliament emphasized that relations with the United States must be based on mutual respect and that the sanctions imposed due to the country’s purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system ” they are not in line with the spirit of the alliance. “
The statement continued: “We ask the United States to reverse this grave error immediately.” He added that Turkey “will not back down from sanctions or threats.”
The statement was signed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, the Nationalist Movement, El-Khair and the Republican People.
The Khair and Al Shaab parties are known to be rivals of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party.
The declaration was not signed by the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), the second largest opposition party represented in Parliament.
In turn, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed regret at the imposition of sanctions by the United States on Turkey and said that the dispute must be resolved in a satisfactory manner.
And he considered that Turkey’s purchase of the S-400 missile system from Russia is a sovereign decision.
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