U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said on Thursday it is full steam ahead on his sanctions legislation against Turkey despite a ceasefire agreement between Turkey and the United States.
Senators Lindsey Graham and Chris Van Hollen introduced bipartisan sanctions on Turkey at a Senate press conference on Thursday.
Their sanctions bill will include measures against Turkish state-run Halkbank for breaking Iran sanctions, mandate CAATSA sanctions for Turkey’s S-400 purchase from Russia within 30 days, prohibit the purchase of sovereign debt from Turkey and will prohibit military assistance to Turkey.
“We’re going to keep working,” Washington-based news site The Hill quoted Graham as saying.” We’re ready to come and hit Turkey hard if they don’t get out of Syria and reset the table.”
Turkey and the United States reached an agreement to halt for 120 hours the Turkish offensive in northeast Syria against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara sees as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
“I don’t trust Erdoğan. I’m going to continue to get co-sponsors, but this sounds positive. We’re going to keep working,” Graham said.
Meanwhile, House Foreign Relations Committee Chairmans Eliot Engel on Thursday said he would introduce sanctions bill that would see tough sanctions imposed on Turkey.
“Congress must continue bipartisan work to address the disastrous consequences of Pres. Trump’s decision,” Engel said. ahvalnews