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US fighters at the Turkish base at Incirlik in late 2015.UMIT BEKTAS / REUTERS
Unfair for Turkey and illegitimate for Russia.
That is the consideration that the sanctions announced this Monday by the United States Government against Turkey for the purchase of the Russian S-400 anti-aircraft defense system, an acquisition highly criticized by Washington and by NATO, of which the United States and NATO have deserved. Turkey are part.
Ankara's reaction has not been long in coming, announcing that it will retaliate against its partner "at the right time"
"Despite our warnings, Turkey has proceeded to purchase and test the Russian S-400 system," said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who stressed that the Pentagon will not tolerate "significant transactions with the Russian defense sector ”.
The sanctions affect the leadership of the conglomerate Defense Industries (SSB, in its Turkish acronym) and "show that the US will fully apply the law to counter adversaries through sanctions" (CAATSA, in its English acronym), the same as it applies to Iran or Venezuela, for example.
The novelty of the case is that Turkey now appears among the list of adversaries.
The unease in this regard in Washington and the Atlantic Alliance, in which the Turkish Army is second in number of troops, was public and notorious for a long time;
What is striking is the moment chosen, in the midst of the transition of power in Washington and when the outgoing President Donald Trump multiplies his diplomatic activity in the region, from the Maghreb to the Middle East.
Ankara bought the S-400 anti-aircraft system last year and on October 17 carried out its first test with the surface-to-air missiles of this system, considered one of the best in its range, capable of hitting air targets at 400 kilometers. away.
The sanctions are specified in "the prohibition of all licenses and export permits of the SSB and the freezing of assets and restriction of the visa of Ismael Demir, president of the SSB, and other positions of the company", according to the statement of the US State Department published this Monday on its website.
“The United States has made it clear to Turkey at the highest level and on numerous occasions that the purchase of the S-400 system would endanger the security of US military personnel and technology [there is a US air base in Incirlik] and would provide funding. to the Russian defense sector, as well as access to Russia to the Turkish Armed Forces and defense industry, "says the text, which accuses Ankara of having proceeded with the purchase despite" the availability of alternative and interoperable systems with the NATO to meet its defensive needs ”.
Turkey considers that the Pentagon's arguments have no technical basis.
Pompeo has called on Turkey "to immediately solve the S-400 problem in coordination with the United States."
"Turkey is a valued partner and an important regional security partner for the United States, and we seek to continue our productive cooperation at the defense sector level, dating back decades, by removing the S-400 hurdle as soon as possible."
The United States and Turkey have maintained loud differences in recent years, partly due to the arrest of several Americans in the country, such as a Protestant pastor whose case put the bilateral relationship on fire, and Washington's refusal to arrest and extradite the Cleric Fetulá Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania and is accused by Ankara of the 2016 coup attempt. The volatile balance of interests in the face of the Syrian civil war has also clashed them at times.
Washington, which in recent years has multiplied its diplomatic activity - and its defensive interests - in Greece and the Balkans, has criticized Turkey's exploration for hydrocarbons in the eastern Mediterranean, which has caused serious tensions with Greece, a member of the EU.
