The Trump administration announced Monday that it was imposing sanctions on NATO-ally Turkey’s military procurement agency as punishment for its purchase of a Russian-made missile defense system.
The sanctions were mandated under a 2017 law requiring them against any country that purchases “significant” material from Russia’s defense industry.
The announcement came after Congress last week overwhelmingly passed the defense funding bill, which includes a provision ordering that the sanctions be imposed within 30 days.
The sanctions, although fewer than what the law allows, include a ban on all U.S. export licenses and authorizations to Turkey's Presidency of Defense Industries, and assets freezes and visa restrictions against the organization’s president and three other senior officials.
Lawmakers of both parties had criticized the administration for failing to implement the sanctions following Turkey’s $2.5 billion purchase of the system in 2019, inaction which some charged was due to President Trump’s close relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
