U.S. Senator James Lankford supports President Trump’s sanctions on Turkey. He pointed to the country’s continued slide away from trying to encourage peace in the region.
“For two years, Turkey unjustly held US pastor Andrew Brunson, and the Trump Administration, at my request, responded with sanctions. When Turkey tried to purchase both Russian and US military equipment, we pushed to stop the transfer of the US F-35 technology to Turkey. Now, as Turkey continues to turn their back on the region it is right that the US should respond with the appropriate consequences when foreign allies make ill-advised military advances instead of promoting peace in the region.
“Turkey has aggressively moved into Syria causing civilian casualties, additional refugees, and has caused the release of multiple ISIS prisoners. The damage to the Turkish economy from the US sanctions is clearly the responsibility of the Turkish leadership, which has attacked the Kurds and made a bad situation in Syria even worse.”
Lankford previously introduced legislation to prevent the sale of F-35 aircraft to Turkey because of human rights violations.
