US denounces reported Turkish test of S-400, as Congress calls for sanctions

WASHINGTON DC (Kurdistan 24) – Both the State Department and Pentagon issued blistering statements on Friday, condemning Turkey’s reported test of its Russian advanced air defense system, the S-400, while key Congressmen, called for the imposition of sanctions, as mandated by a US law, known as CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act) that stipulates, among other points, the imposition of US sanctions on countries that purchase Russian military equipment.

Based on earlier Turkish warnings to aircraft and shipping to avoid the area around the Black Sea coastal city of Sinop and a video taken there on Friday of a column of high-rising smoke, Reuters reported that Turkey had tested the S-400—of which it first took possession in July 2019.

The US strongly opposes Turkey’s use of the S-400, because it believes that the missile system will allow Moscow to gather data on the F-35, America’s newest fighter jet, making it easier for Russia to shoot down the plane. 

State Department and Pentagon Response 

“The United States has expressed to the Government of Turkey, at the most senior levels, that the acquisition of Russian military systems such as the S-400 is unacceptable,” State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in a written statement, issued on Friday.

“The United States has been clear in our expectation that the S-400 should not be operationalized,” and we have been clear “on the potential serious consequences for our security relationship,” she continued.

“If confirmed, we would condemn in the strongest terms the S-400 test missile launch as incompatible with Turkey’s responsibilities as a NATO ally and strategic partner of the United States.”

The Pentagon issued a similar statement. “We object to Turkey’s purchase of the system and are deeply concerned with reports that Turkey is bringing it into operation,” Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman said.

“It should not be activated,” he continued. “Doing so risks serious consequences for our security relationship. Turkey has already been suspended from the F-35 program and the S-400 continues to be a barrier to progress elsewhere in the bilateral relationship.”

Yet notably neither the State Department nor Pentagon statements included specific consequences for Turkey’s test of the missile system.

That is so, even though there appears to be little doubt that Ankara did, indeed, test the S-400. According to one US defense official, the US military has “assessed that Turkey did, in fact,” test the system, CNN reported. 

Congressmen Call for CAATSA Sanctions 

Congress has, on a bipartisan basis, long urged the administration to impose CAATSA sanctions on Turkey for its acquisition of the S-400. But, so far, President Donald Trump has been unwilling to do so.

The report of Turkey’s S-400 test renewed Congressional calls on the administration to impose those sanctions.

The leadership of the House Foreign Affairs Committee—the Chairman, Eliot Engel (D, New York) and the top Republican, Rep. Michael McCaul (Texas)—issued a statement, affirming, “If reports of [Turkey’s] latest S-400 are accurate,” then “the Administration must impose [CAATSA] sanctions, as it did when China took delivery of the same system.”

“US law requires sanctions against countries that continue to deepen their defense relationship with Russia,” Sen. Jim Risch (R, Idaho), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a written statement. “The administration should send a strong signal that Turkey must divest its S-400s,” and “President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan must be accountable for his actions over the last several years. Today’s further action is beyond the pale.”

The US presidential elections are just 18 days away, and they are Trump’s main focus. Yet Dr. Aykan Erdemir, a former Turkish parliamentarian and now Senior Director of the Turkey Program at Washington’s Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, discounted the notion that Erdogan might have tested the S-400 at this time to take advantage of Trump’s distraction.

Rather, as Erdemir suggested to Kurdistan 24, “Erdogan’s timing might have more to do with his preference for Trump over Biden to be the president who chooses sanctions from the CAATSA menu.”

“If Biden wins the presidency,” Erdemir continued, “Erdogan would expect Trump to act much more leniently compared to Biden, and therefore hope that Trump issues the sanctions during his lame duck period.”

Editing by John J. Catherine