A bipartisan amendment by MEPs Kinzinger and Spanberger, adopted unanimously by the House of Representatives under the National Defense budget, reaffirms that Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 missiles is a "significant transaction" CAATSA states that within one month of the signing of the law, sanctions should be imposed on Turkey.
The amendment, however, allows the president to lift sanctions if Turkey gets rid of Russian missiles.
MP Adam Kinzinger is a Republican from Illinois and Abigail Spanberger is a Democrat from Virginia. The bill on the Defense budget was passed yesterday by the plenary session of the Parliament with 295 - 125 votes and is being forwarded to the Senate, where there is also strong bipartisan support for sanctions in Turkey, with the heads of the Committee on Foreign Relations Jim Reese and Bob Mendenez similar amendment in the past.
In a statement, MP Kinzinger said Turkey had ignored repeated warnings from NATO members not to proceed with the deal. "We must make it very clear that Turkey's actions will not be tolerated and will have serious consequences. "Our legislation does just that, making Turkey's actions a specific offense that is punishable."
The CAATSA law on sanctions against US rivals imposes penalties on any country that engages in significant transactions with the Russian defense industry. There are three categories of sanctions and it is not up to the president to choose the category he deems necessary. For more than a year, President Trump has not only avoided imposing sanctions, but has been trying to facilitate Turkey with the HalkBank case.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced on Tuesday that the US would buy the 8 F-35 fighter jets to be sold in Turkey, but their purchase was canceled by law due to the supply of S-400 missiles.
Source: KYPE