October 15, 2019-The U.S. Treasury Department issued economic sanctions against two Turkish ministries and three senior government officials on Monday, blocking them from international financial institutions that trade with the United States.
The ministries include the National Defense and the Energy and Natural Resources Department. The officials include the ministers of those departments: Hulusi Akar, Suleyman Soylu, and Fatih Donmez.
“The United States is holding the Turkish Government accountable for escalating violence by Turkish forces, endangering innocent civilians, and destabilizing the region,” said U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a release.
The level of sanctions appear to be moderate. According to an Associated Press reporter David McHugh, the sanctions “fall well short of doing serious damage to an economy still healing from a recession and currency collapse.” But more actions might be coming.
In a letter to Congress, U.S. President Donald Trump said, “Sanctions may affect various financial transactions, including government procurement contracts, foreign exchange transactions, investments, and importation of goods, technology, or services, as well as impose the denial of a visa and exclusion from the United States of the sanctioned person.”
Turkey’s military and their allies are fighting in northern Syria, driving out Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The SDF includes the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a mostly Kurdish militia, which Turkey considers to be a terrorist group.
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