{"id":45116,"date":"2019-10-16T15:56:35","date_gmt":"2019-10-16T15:56:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/10\/16\/houses-turkey-sanctions-bill-would-ban-us-arms-sales\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:43:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:43:03","slug":"houses-turkey-sanctions-bill-would-ban-us-arms-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2019\/10\/16\/houses-turkey-sanctions-bill-would-ban-us-arms-sales\/","title":{"rendered":"Liz Cheney\u2019s Turkey sanctions bill would ban US arms sales"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 More than 90 of U.S. President Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s fellow Republicans in the House were poised Wednesday to introduce sanctions against Turkey aimed at ending its assault against Kurdish fighters and civilians in Syria <\/a>\u2014 an assault Turkey began after Trump announced he was withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sanctions announced Wednesday by House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., include a ban on U.S. military assistance to NATO ally Turkey and, separately, would apply to anyone who provides financial, material or technological support to or knowingly conducts a transaction with the Turkish armed forces, including defense articles, petroleum and natural gas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This bill also extends the sanctions placed through Countering America\u2019s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA, on Turkey in response to its purchase of the Russian S-400 Triumph anti-missile defense system<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The House bill follows the efforts of Sens. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who are expected to introduce their version on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The House sanctions bill underscored the dissatisfaction with Trump\u2019s decision as the administration scrambles to contain the fallout, including bipartisan criticism that the withdrawal betrays Kurdish allies and benefits Russia, Iran, the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad and the remnants of the Islamic State group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The administration announced its own sanctions against Turkey this week over Ankara\u2019s offensive in Syria, though those sanctions will include a Treasury Department waiver to allow foreign military sales to continue, a senior defense official said Tuesday. The goal is to allow \u201congoing activities\u201d between the U.S. State and Defense departments and their Turkish counterparts, the official explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe idea is to continue official business,\u201d the official said. \u201cWe\u2019re seeking to continue to have conversations with the Turks to get them to stop this behavior so those kind of activities are [necessary] and obviously this is a long-term, strong mil-to-mil relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t