US looks to remove sanctions against Turkish ministers and ministries

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States (US) Treasury Department has officially published a request for the US administration to lift economic sanctions against Turkey’s three ministers and ministries, state-run news agency Anadolu (AA) reported on Tuesday.

The OFAC has requested the removal of National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, Energy Minister Fatih Donmez, and Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, along with the first two’s ministries, from its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List.

The removal, if approved, will reportedly enable those in the list to once again conduct business with the US individuals and companies.

Their placement on the list had come from US President Donald Trump on October 14 as sanctions against Turkey’s military operation in northeastern Syria on October 9 last year.

Turkey’s stated aim was then to clear the border area off the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and to form a “safe zone” along its border with Syria to resettle the refugees.

The YPG, which helped US troops battle the Islamic State (ISIS) militants in the region, is designated by Turkey as a terrorist organization due to its links to the Kurdish separatists in Turkey called the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Ankara also faces sanctions due to its purchase of Russian S-400 missiles and the involvement of state-run Halkbank in the Iran sanctions-busting scheme.

At the time when the sanctions were implemented, the US administration had vowed to investigate the reports on war crimes committed by the Turkish army and Turkish-backed Islamist militias during the incursion.

However, the move by the US to remove them comes at a time of increased tensions between Turkey and Russia-backed Syria.

During the past two weeks, 14 soldiers were killed by Syrian shelling in the rebel-held Idlib region.

In response, over 51 Syrian soldiers have been reportedly killed by the Turkish forces, which have observation posts established under the 2018 Astana peace process between Turkey, Russia, and Iran.

Under the deal, Turkey is expected to remove the rebels with their heavy arms from the agreed territory.

However now, with its observation posts, Turkey backs the opposition fighters trying to stop an offensive by the al-Assad regime.

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo posted a tweet expressing solidarity with Turkey and its soldiers who were killed by the Syrian regime in the latest clashes.

“My condolences to the families of the soldiers killed in yesterday’s attack in Idlib. The ongoing assaults by the Assad regime and Russia must stop. I have sent Jim Jeffrey to Ankara to coordinate steps to respond to this destabilizing attack. We stand by our NATO Ally [Turkey],” Pompeo’s message read.

Erdogan fumes at Syria, threatens to target Assad forces “anywhere”

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from IPA NEWS https://ipa.news/2020/02/13/us-looks-to-remove-sanctions-against-turkish-ministers-and-ministries/