White House lifts some sanctions on Türkiye imposed in 2019

The United States has decided to lift part of the sanctions it imposed on Türkiye in 2019, following Ankara’s independent foreign policy decisions in Syria, particularly its Operation Peace Spring aimed at protecting its borders.

A few days before leaving office, U.S. President Joe Biden amended the sanctions decisions against Türkiye imposed in 2019, lifting some and easing others.

According to an executive order titled “Taking Additional Steps with Respect to the Situation in Syria,” outgoing U.S. President Biden signed a directive to ease and lift some sanctions on Ankara.

The statement justifies the decision to remove and ease sanctions on Türkiye, citing “changing circumstances on the ground in Syria” as the primary reason for the shift in policy.

“Joe Biden, the President of the United States, in order to take additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13894 of October 14, 2019 (Blocking Property and Suspending Entry of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Syria),” the statement read.

Section 1.  Amendments to Executive Order 13894.  Executive Order 13894 is hereby amended by:

(a)  striking from the second paragraph the phrase “, and in particular the recent actions by the Government of Türkiye to conduct a military offensive into northeast Syria,”;

(b)  striking subsections (1)(a)(i)(B)-(F) and inserting, in lieu thereof, the following:

“(B)  to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; or

(C)  to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order.”; and

     (c)  striking subsection 8(f).

Sec. 2.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

1. the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other persons.

Joe Biden, Executive Order

US sanctions on Türkiye lifted after years

Some of the sanctions imposed on Türkiye by the U.S. due to Operation Peace Spring in 2019 were lifted and others were eased.

With the new decree:

• Accusations that Türkiye’s operations in Syria “disturbed peace and stability, endangered civilians and undermined the fight against Daesh” were removed.
• Sanctions against Turkish (former) officials and institutions were lifted.
• Sanctions against the Turkish economy and companies were lifted.
• The article added to impose more comprehensive sanctions on Türkiye was removed.
• Visa restrictions for Turkish officials and organizations affiliated with Türkiye have been lifted.

US sanctions on Türkiye

Back in 2019, the U.S. announced sanctions on two Turkish ministries and three senior government officials over Türkiye’s Operation Peace Spring, a counterterrorism operation in northern Syria.

On Oct. 9, 2019, Türkiye launched Operation Peace Spring to remove terrorist groups from northern Syria, aiming to secure its borders, facilitate the safe return of Syrian refugees, and uphold Syria’s territorial integrity.

Ankara’s objective is to clear the region east of the Euphrates of the PKK terrorist organization and its Syrian affiliate, the PYD/YPG.

As a new era begins in Syria, terrorist groups still control important cities and critical infrastructure in eastern Syria.

In its years of terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK—listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the U.S. and the European Union—has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

US sanctions provoke serious reactions in Türkiye

“Operation Peace Spring continues successfully as planned. In the operation, the protection of our country, borders and people is essential. Even the discourses of sanctions against our country are incompatible with the spirit of the 70-year NATO alliance,” the Turkish Ministry of Defense said in a statement back in 2019.

Turkish Foreign Ministry also condemned the adoption of sanctions against Türkiye back in 2019 and said, “We strongly condemn the adoption of a draft bill that envisages sanctions against Türkiye on the basis of Operation Peace Spring in the U.S. House of Representatives today (Oct. 29, 2019).”

The draft bill, which targets our senior officials and our Armed Forces, is incompatible with the spirit of our NATO Alliance, and contradicts with the agreement reached on Syria with the U.S. Administration on 17 October.

The U.S. officials, who have been even disregarding the difference between an Ally country and a terrorist organization and have been carelessly legitimizing a terrorist with their rhetoric and actions in the past days, should understand that they cannot achieve anything with the threats of unilateral sanctions.

We urge, the U.S. Congress, not to exploit bilateral issues for domestic political consumption and to act in line with the spirit of our Alliance and partnership. We call on the U.S. Administration to take necessary steps to prevent the further deterioration of our relations.

Turkish Foreign Ministry

In a statement released by the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Dec. 12, 2019, the Turkish foreign minister called on the U.S. Congress to adopt a constructive approach in order to protect shared goals and strengthen Turkish-U.S. relations.

The reasons why the U.S. Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee passed a draft bill aiming to impose sanctions against our country under the pretext of Operation Peace Spring and the S-400 system are obvious. It is the deep resentment felt by some circles after the heavy blow we dealt to the project which was being meticulously planned for a long time.

The initiatives conducted in both houses of the Congress through internal political considerations and supported by known anti-Turkish circles, are yet another manifestation of the disrespect shown towards our sovereign decisions concerning our national security. Those initiatives have no other function than to harm Turkish-U.S. relations.

We had already given the necessary response to a similar draft bill passed by the House of Representatives on 29 October. Attempts to bring this new draft bill to the Senate floor show that our explanations fall on deaf ears.

We call upon the U.S. Congress to adopt a constructive approach safeguarding our common objectives to develop Turkish-U.S. relations which were confirmed at the highest level in recent weeks and to act in a reasonable manner.

Turkish Foreign Ministry