Ankara has called the latest initiatives in the US Congress to sanction Turkey disrespectful, SIA reports referring to Reuters.
A US Senate committee backed legislation late on Wednesday to impose sanctions on Turkey after its offensive in Syria and purchase of a Russian S-400 missile system, the latest move in the chamber to push Republican President Donald Trump to take a harder line against Ankara.The Turkish defence ministry responded to the bill, calling it "a new manifestation of disrespect for our sovereign decisions regarding our national security.""These initiatives do not have any function other than to harm Turkish-US relations," it said in a statement overnight, calling on Congress to act with common sense.
Turkey, which has not wavered from its plans to use the Russian system despite Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's recent visit to the White House, earlier vowed to retaliate against any US sanctions over its purchase of the S-400 and said they would not affect its use of the Russian systems."It is understood that members of (the US) Congress have shut their eyes and ears to the truth," Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said.
The Republican-led Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted by 18-4 to send the "Promoting American National Security and Preventing the Resurgence of ISIS Act of 2019" for a vote in the full Senate."Now's the time for the Senate to come together and take this opportunity to change Turkey's behaviour," said Senator Jim Risch, the panel's Republican chairman, a lead sponsor of the bill with Senator Bob Menendez, the panel's top Democrat.
Another Republican, Senator Rand Paul, opposed the act. He said it would weaken the president's power and could make it more difficult to negotiate with Erdogan on matters such as the NATO ally's purchase of the missile system and fighting in Syria.Senators also criticised Trump's decision to withdraw US troops from northern Syria, which cleared the way for Turkey's offensive in the area against the YPG, who until recently were fighting alongside American forces against the Daesh."This is not some minor dustup with this country. This is a drift by this country, Turkey, to go in an entirely different direction than what they have in the past," Risch said.
To become law, the legislation would have to pass the House of Representatives, which passed its own Turkish sanctions bill by an overwhelming 403-16 vote in October and be signed by Trump.
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