Trump administration is confident on an action package to punish Turkey for purchasing a Russian Air Defense missile system and planned to announce its objective in the few days.
President Trump has to choose 5 out of total 12 proposed sanctions ranging from mild to harsh under Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.
According to sources, the administration is intended to reveal the sanctions before next week. The administration decided to wait until after Monday’s Anniversary of a 2016’s stroke attempt against Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan to avoid escalating further speculations that the U.S. was responsible for the uprising of overthrow moment, as Erdogan’s supporters have claimed.
The schedule of imposing sanctions was made after days of discussions between officials at the State and Defense departments and the National Security Council. It awaits approval by President Trump, the officials said.
Turkey on Friday started receiving parts of the Russian S-400 missile system, which the U.S. has said is a threat to the Pentagon’s program of the F-35 stealth fighter jets.
The U.S. has strongly tried to pull Turkey back from the deal responsible for the first “offensive” move by a NATO member towards Russia, Washington has warned Ankara that it will face economic sanctions for Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act by going ahead with the purchase of Russian Air Defense system.
Washington has also said that Turkey will be expelled from the program to produce and purchase state of the art. F-35 stealth fighter jets as the Pentagon is expected to withhold Turkey’s purchase of hundred F-35 aircraft, which would play a key role in the future defense strategy of the Turkish Air Force, as well as abstaining the role of Turkish aeronautical companies in producing components for F-35. The U.S. has said several times that the Russian system is incompatible with NATO systems and is a threat to the F-35
Now, after the confirmation of delivery and deployment of Russian AD system in Turkey, it is almost certain that Ankara will be subject to punitive actions by Washington.
