US lawmakers urge Trump to sanction Turkey

Turkey’s purchase of the S-400 is according to the resolution from Scott and Young as a “direct and dire threat” to US security interests

Republican and Democratic U.S. lawmakers pressed President Donald Trump on Thursday to impose sanctions on Turkey over its purchase of a Russian missile defense system, saying he should follow a law mandating penalties for doing business with Russia’s military.

Republican Senators Rick Scott and Todd Young introduced a resolution calling for sanctions after Ankara began accepting delivery of an advanced Russian missile defense system last week, prompting the White House to announce it was removing Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program.

Separately, Senator Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said removing Turkey from the jet program was not enough. “The law clearly mandates sanctions penalties for ‘significant transactions’ with the Russian Federation’s defense and intelligence sectors, which would clearly include the delivery of an S-400 system,” he said in an emailed statement.

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