Trump Forced To Finally Slap Sanctions on Turkey For S-400 Buy

WASHINGTON: The rift between Turkey and the rest of the NATO alliance over the purchase of Russian S-400 air defense system turned into a chasm today with the announcement of sanctions slapped on Ankara’s military procurement agency and several top government officials by the Trump administration.

“Both friends and adversaries alike must know that it’s not okay to make big purchases of Russian arms,” said Tom Karako, director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “It’s been a moral hazard to fail to implement CAATSA over the last 18 months, but better late than never.”

Washington answered the 2017 purchase last year when Turkey was kicked out of the F-35 program, denying the longtime ally the fifth-generation fighter plane.

The targeted sanctions likely won’t hurt the government nearly as deeply as losing its F-35s, but the sanctions are clear evidence of Washington’s clear frustration with the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“We very much regret that this has been necessary,” said Chris Ford, one of the State Department’s most senior arms control officials told reporters in a call this afternoon. “Imposing sanctions on a NATO ally is not something we take lightly,” said Matthew Palmer, a senior official in the State Department’s Bureau of European Affairs.

“This decision left us no alternative,” Ford added. “We hope that the Turkish government will be willing to engage with us in trying to find a resolution to this.”

It’s not clear when that solution might be found. In October, Erdogan taunted the Trump administration for its failure to implement the sanctions: “Whatever your sanctions are, don’t be late.”

Both Republicans and Democrats in Congress have complained since 2017 about the Trump administration’s failure to issue sanctions under the 2017 Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA. By huge bipartisan margins, Congress last week passed the 2021 NDAA, a bill which demanded CAATSA be imposed on Turkey within 30 days of its passage. 

President Trump has vowed to veto the bill, but his record on vetoing NDAA’s is poor.

Sen. Sen. James Lankford, long a proponent of CAATSA and removing Turkey from the F-35 program, said today: “Turkey is a NATO ally but is not behaving like one. They continue to compromise our national security by engaging with Russia. Today’s action further demonstrates to President Erdogan that what they’re doing is unacceptable…The United States should also impose targeted sanctions on officials and entities responsible for the purchase and use of the S-400 if Turkey does not reverse course.”

Last month, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said his government was eager to discuss NATO’s worries over the interoperability of the S-400s and the F-35s, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo refused to meet with Turkish government officials during a visit to Istanbul to meet with the leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians.

The Turkish defense industry will feel the rejection, as they were contracted to make about 900 parts for the international consortium that builds and operates the F-35. That work won’t run out immediately however,  as Pentagon officials, who first announced Turkey’s removal in 2019, have conceded that replacing those companies won’t be as easy as they first thought.

In January, undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment Ellen Lord said the US would let Lockheed Martin and engine-maker Pratt & Whitney continue to fulfill their contractual obligations with Turkish manufacturers for F-35 components. Turkish companies will continue to supply parts through Lot 14, with those planes to be delivered in 2022.

Today’s move puts more teeth in the US response, and gives the incoming Biden administration a new lever with which to engage with Turkey diplomatically.