Trump imposes sanctions on Turkey as Syria conflict intensifies

Trump, under mounting political pressure to retreat from his earlier suggestions that the United States should remain uninvolved, also said he was halting negotiations over a $100 billion trade deal and doubling tariffs on imports of Turkish steel.

“The United States will aggressively use economic sanctions to target those who enable, facilitate and finance these heinous acts in Syria,” Trump said in a statement. “I am fully prepared to swiftly destroy Turkey’s economy if Turkish leaders continue down this dangerous and destructive path.”

The Treasury Department announced that it was placing sanctions on Turkey’s Ministry of National Defense and Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, along with the minister of national defense, minister of energy and natural resources, and minister of the interior. The sanctions effectively cut them off from the global financial system. The sanctions did not appear to include the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom Trump spoke with by phone Monday, but the Treasury Department warned of additional sanctions against Turkish government officials if Turkey did not change course in Syria.

When Trump spoke with Erdogan on Monday, he urged him to “stop the invasion” and agree to enact a cease-fire, Vice President Mike Pence said. Pence also announced that Trump had asked him to lead a delegation to Turkey.

But the actions were, in the minds of many U.S. diplomats, a week late: The time to threaten sanctions was when Trump spoke with Erdogan by phone on Oct. 6, just before the invasion, in an effort to dissuade him from proceeding with the attack on Kurdish forces allied with the United States. Now, the invasion has resulted not only in the deaths of Kurdish allies, but also signs that it is benefiting Russia, Iran and the Islamic State.

Exactly what Turkey would need to do to end the sanctions was also unclear. Trump said nothing about bringing its troops back home, and keeping them on the Turkish side of the border. In a statement Monday night, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was somewhat more specific, warning Turkish officials that “to avoid suffering further sanctions imposed under this new executive order Turkey must immediately cease its unilateral offensive in northeast Syria and return to a dialogue with the United States on security in northeast Syria.” That sounded more like a cease-fire than a retreat from Kurdish-controlled territory.

Three top Senate Democrats — Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York, Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Jack Reed of Rhode Island — warned in a joint statement that “strong sanctions, while good and justified,” would not be enough to reverse the damage. They called on Republicans to join them in a resolution that would force Trump to reverse his decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria.

“President Trump should use this moment to step up, do the right thing and correct course,” they said. “He can listen to his national security and military advisers, and to the chorus of bipartisan voices in Congress and across the world who made it clear that this was a grave mistake worth reversing.”

They appeared to have significant Republican support. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate majority leader, reiterated his concern Monday that the withdrawal would create “a catastrophic outcome for the United States’ strategic interests.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., spoke by phone Monday and agreed that a bipartisan, bicameral joint resolution to overturn the president’s decision was their “first order of business,” Pelosi said.

Trump himself had cleared the way for the Turkish invasion and attacks on Kurdish forces allied with the United States by ordering the withdrawal of some U.S. forces in northern Syria a week ago.

Some analysts of the U.S.-Turkey relationship cast Trump’s move as a half-measure, perhaps intended to forestall more aggressive action by an angry Congress.

“Trump’s ‘sanctions package’ against Turkey regarding the latter’s Syria offensive isn’t surprising,” Soner Cagaptay, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, wrote on Twitter. Trump, he said, “wasn’t really going to sanction Turkey for a move for which he had green lighted Erdogan in the first place.”

Trump said the steel tariffs on Turkey would rise to 50% from 25%. The United States had previously imposed a 50% steel tariff on Turkey last year after the Turkish government refused to release an American pastor who was being held on espionage charges. His decision to impose the steep steel tariffs in 2018 spooked markets and sent Turkey’s currency, the lira, tumbling.

Turkey was America’s sixth-largest foreign supplier of steel before the United States doubled the tariffs last year. Steel imports from Turkey fell sharply, dropping by 76%, after the tariff increase. Trump moved in May to pull the tariffs back to 25%, which is in line with duties that he imposed globally for national security reasons.

Trump’s statement made no mention of the potentially awkward fact that Erdogan is scheduled to visit Trump at the White House on Nov. 13, as Trump announced on Twitter last week. Nor did it mention possible sanctions that senators from both parties have insisted for months are required by law to punish Ankara’s purchase of an advanced Russian anti-missile system.