{"id":41898,"date":"2020-12-04T03:23:35","date_gmt":"2020-12-04T03:23:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/12\/04\/turkey-sanctions-over-s-400-made-mandatory-in-defense-bill\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:32:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:32:00","slug":"turkey-sanctions-over-s-400-made-mandatory-in-defense-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2020\/12\/04\/turkey-sanctions-over-s-400-made-mandatory-in-defense-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Sanctioning Turkey over the S-400 would be mandatory in new defense bill"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2015 The final version of the must-pass annual defense policy bill <\/a>unveiled Thursday mandates the U.S. president sanction Turkey for its acquisition of the S-400 air missile defense system<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though President Donald Trump has held off sanctioning Turkey for the purchase under the 2017 Countering America\u2019s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA, the defense bill would order that five or more sanctions under CAATSA be imposed within 30 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The duty would fall to the Trump administration unless the bill is signed after next week. Otherwise it would fall to President-elect Joe Biden, who is due to be inaugurated Jan. 20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NATO says the S-400s pose a threat to the military alliance and particularly endanger the technical secrets of the F-35 aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The language, sought by Democrats and the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Jim Risch<\/a>, would determinethat Turkey\u2019s $2.5 billion purchase of the S-400 constitutes a \u201csignificant transaction\u201d under CAATSA, which offers a range of sanctions against any nation procuring a major defense article from Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The president can lift the sanctions when he can certify that Turkey no longer has an S-400 system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill also includes authorization for the U.S. military to use the six F-35 aircraft that had been accepted by Turkey before the country was expelled<\/a> from the F-35 program over the S-400 purchase.<\/p>\n\n\n\t