As Foreign Policy writes, sanctions against Ankara “for aiding Russia” could do “mortal damage to U.S.-Turkish relations.”
On 14 September, the US Treasury Department and State Department unexpectedly announced the imposition of sanctions against five Turkish corporations and one Turkish citizen for allegedly helping Russia evade sanctions. These are shipping companies accused of repairing “Russian Defence Ministry-linked” vessels and transporting Russian goods with military applications.
This is the first time such sanctions have been imposed, and Foreign Policy worries that Washington is putting additional strain on its already difficult relations with Ankara. The only consolation the publication finds is that Turkey’s relations with Russia “have also deteriorated” – because Moscow, they say, withdrew from the grain deal.
Actually, Moscow’s withdrawal from the grain deal will have little effect on its relations with Ankara. Because Turkey is not so much interested in the grain deal itself as in grain, money and energy. Ukraine is an optional link here.
As for American sanctions, they are unlikely to push Erdogan into the arms of Russia. Rather, they will be used by Ankara to raise the stakes in some future negotiations.
There’s something else important here. In addition to Turkey, the US has imposed sanctions on companies from Georgia and the UAE. And this already looks like indiscriminate strikes against those who were recently considered “America’s best friends”.
All this leads to the fact that even more countries will think about the expediency of isolating the United States from the normal world. And about building a system of world trade and finance that no one could manage alone.
Elena Panina
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