On December 14, 2020, the United States (
US) imposed sanctions on Turkey pursuant to Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (
CAATSA) for “knowingly engaging in a significant transaction with Rosoboronexport (
ROE), Russia’s main arms export entity, by procuring the S-400 surface-to-air missile system.”
Background
In July 2019, Turkey closed the purchase deal with Russia.
On October 14, 2019, in response to Turkey’s military offensive into northeast Syria the Office of Foreign Assets Control (
OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury designated two ministries of the Turkish Government and three Turkish Ministers on the Specially Designated Nationals (
SDN) List.
On October 23, 2019, President Trump announced that he was lifting the October 14, 2019 sanctions against Turkey.
Ukraine to buy Turkish warships, co-produce drones
(MicroStockHub/Getty Images) ANKARA, Turkey Turkey is selling four locally made stealth corvettes to its littoral Black Sea neighbor Ukraine as part of a larger framework agreement to enhance bilateral cooperation in defense procurement. The agreement, signed Dec. 15, also involves the transfer of Turkish technology to Ukraine and co-production of Turkish-made armed drones. It was signed by Ukrainian Defence Minister Andriy Taran and Turkey’s top defense procurement official, Ismail Demir. The warship deal could be worth about $1 billion, a government source told Defense News on condition of anonymity. In 2018, Turkish state-controlled defense technologies company STM won a contract to produce and sell four MILGEM corvettes to the Pakistan Navy. STM pledged to deliver the first small, multirole warship by the end of 2021. The contract entails construction of two corvettes in Turkey, with the other two slated for producti
President Erdoğan questions US-NATO alliance with Turkey Abdus Sattar Ghazali 18 Dec 2020
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday questioned the United States alliance with Turkey following the U.S. decision to impose sanctions on Turkey over the purchase of S-400 Russian missiles.
The Turkish president pointed out that the bond between the two countries was established largely through NATO membership, and asked: What kind of alliance is this? The U.S. Countering America s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) sanctions have never been imposed on any country since they were first approved in 2017. Turkey is the first country that has faced CAATSA, and it is the U.S. NATO ally, the president said during the inauguration ceremony of Niğde-Ankara highway.
Dec 17 2020 03:01 Gmt+3
Last Updated On: Dec 17 2020 03:02 Gmt+3
Turkey should stop drifting away from NATO and become a member of good standing or face additional sanctions by the United States, said Bradley Bowman and Aykan Erdemir of the Washington D.C.-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD).
Turkey used to be a pro-Western bulwark on NATO’s south eastern flank, but under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan it has drifted towards Russia, and increasingly undermined regional stability and the interests of both the United States and NATO, Bowman and Erdemir said in an analysis on Wednesday.
Sanctions imposed on the country by the United States on Monday have targeted the nation’s defence procurement agency, the Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB). President Donald Trump approved the measures under congressional pressure after Erdoğan acquired S-400 air defence missiles from Russia last year and began testing them.