As the United States prepares to sanction Turkey for its purchase from Russia of the S-400 air defence system, the European Union also declared limited sanctions regarding the dispute in Eastern Mediterranean.

Both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate have adopted the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) bill. The bill, which President Donald Trump said that he would veto, gained a vote majority of two thirds.

Sanctions on Turkey

The bill also includes a section regarding sanctions which are expected to be imposed on Turkey.

The bill demands that sanctions related to CAATSA and NDAA be imposed on Turkey due to its S-400 defence system. Sanctions may be imposed on Turkey 30 days after the enactment of the NDAA bill. In addition, the bill enables the US Air Force to use six F-35 jets previously bought by Turkey.

In order to remove the sanctions, Turkey needs to confirm that no one runs the S-400 systems on behalf of the Russian government or any Russian company. Turkey must also commit to not involving itself in any act which might be related to CAATSA’s 231st section.

EU leaders summit

The EU Leaders Summit was held on 11 – 12 December. The summit’s final declaration related to Turkey and the Eastern Mediterranean was approved on the first day of the summit. Accordingly, the sanctions which are to be imposed on Turkey will be limited.

The summit’s final declaration demanded that a supplementary list regarding the new restrictive precautions be prepared in the scope of the EU Council’s decisions, which were approved on 11 November 2019 due to Turkey’s unauthorised drilling operations in the Eastern Mediterranean. Sanction are limited to the companies and persons that are considered responsible for the crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean.

It was also stated in the final declaration that the EU aims to tackle the dispute in the Eastern Mediterranean in coordination with the US.