Senators Urge State Department to Sanction Turkey for Purchase of Russian Missile Systems
Two U.S. senators urged the Trump administration to impose sanctions against Turkey for its purchase of Russian missile systems and criticized the Defense Department for not moving fast enough to remove Turkey from F-35 supply chains. Sens. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and James Lankford, R-Okla., said the State Department should immediately impose asset freezes under the Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act, adding that Turkey has “no intention of reversing course and divesting of this system.”
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“To-date, the administration has not imposed sanctions on Turkey for its purchase of the S-400” system, the senators said in an Oct. 7 letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “Additionally, the slow pace at which the Department of Defense is moving to remove Turkey from the F-35 supply chain has no doubt emboldened President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan.” Congress has previously urged the administration to sanction Turkey for the defense purchases (see 1912030017 and 1905240019), and a State Department official said last year the agency planned to sanction Turkey (see 1907150039). The State Department declined to comment.