SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Turkey’s lira briefly slipped after U.S. lawmakers included mandatory Turkish sanctions in a defense spending bill that moves Washington a step closer to punishing its NATO ally for buying Russian S-400 missile defenses last year.
The final version of the $740 billion annual U.S. defense spending legislation would oblige the White House to select from a list of sanctions over the S-400s, which the United States says are incompatible with NATO operations, Reuters reported.
The defense bill included sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which are designed in part to deter cooperation with Russia. U.S. President Donald Trump would select from a list of mild to harsh possible sanctions.
The bill is the result of months of negotiations between Republicans and Democrats. Once the House and Senate vote on it as soon as early next week, Trump has 10 days to veto or it becomes law.
Trump, a Republican, has said he will veto the bill over separate provisions.
Democrat U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen said in a statement on Friday that Congress did what Trump would not.
“Show President Erdogan that we will not back down when it comes to protecting our security and that of our faithful NATO allies.”
Russia delivered the ground-to-air S-400 last year and Turkey tested them as recently as October. Ankara says they would not be integrated into NATO system and pose no threat.
The threat of Western countries has weighed on the lira currency, which hit a series of record lows this year and weakened nearly 1% before recovering to 7.76 versus the dollar on Friday.
Sanctions could harm a Turkish economy already struggling with a coronavirus-induced slowdown, double-digit inflation and badly depleted foreign reserves.
Last year, Washington suspended Turkey from its F-35 jet programme over the S-400s.
(Esta Media Network/Reuters)
