Trump administration opposes sanctions against Turkey

The State Department sent the memo to Capitol Hill ahead of the Senate mark-up of a bill co-sponsored by Sens. Jim Risch (R-ID) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) titled "Promoting American National Security and Preventing the Resurgence of ISIS Act."

The memo states that the Trump administration is of the view that imposing sanctions on Ankara would weaken NATO, lead Turkey to depend on Russia or other adversary countries in its arms supply, and that both results would hurt the national security of the United States.

The bill, which includes sanctions against Turkey for buying Russian surface-to-air missiles , would bar the U.S. from selling Turkey F-16 or F-35 fighter jets, including parts, until Turkey has fully abandoned the S-400 missile defense system it purchased from Russia. (ILKHA)