U.S. Lawmakers Move to Punish Turkey for Buying Russian Missile System

Source:Foreign Policy Date:11Dec2019

One congressional staffer indicated that if the president does not soon impose sanctions, Congress may act unilaterally.

“If the Administration doesn’t do something soon on CAATSA, Congress will and it won’t be ‘calibrated,’” the staffer said.

The administration had floated a workaround that would involve Turkey agreeing to store and not operate the systems, potentially paving the way for Washington to readmit Ankara to the F-35 fighter jet program. No such agreement ever surfaced.

In the deal finalized this week, lawmakers called on the president once more to implement sanctions. They took the step of expressing a “Sense of Congress” that Turkey’s acquisition of the S-400 constitutes a “significant transaction” under CAATSA. The step is not legally binding, but lawmakers could move to make it law, the staffer said.