Ankara maintains close trade ties with Moscow, covering Turkish-American relations.
The United States has warned Turkey of “consequences” if the country does not limit exports of American military equipment to Russia. It was reported by the Financial Times.
Media said US Assistant Secretary of Commerce Matthew Axelrod recently met with Turkish officials and leaders in Ankara and Istanbul as part of measures to curb illicit trade. He insisted that Turkey should work hard to prevent trade in chips of American origin and other parts.
Axelrod also told the Turkish government that trade was an “urgent issue” and called on Ankara to “adopt and enforce a ban on the transport of US-controlled goods to Russia.”
The US Commerce Department has already added 18 Turkish companies to its “entity list” for this trade. The Treasury Department has separately sanctioned several Turkish companies for allegedly supplying Russia’s military-industrial complex.
Washington’s warning is the latest sign that Turkey is maintaining close trade ties with Russia, media outlets highlight, and say it clouds relations between the two NATO allies. The US, the EU and other Western partners imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia after it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but Turkey avoided the restrictions and instead increased trade.
The US is particularly concerned that Turkey has become a major hub where Western-made electronics, including processors, memory cards and amplifiers, find their way into Russian missiles and drones.
Turkey’s exports of high-priority military goods sent to Russia or likely intermediaries have increased since the start of the war. It reached $85 million in the first six months of this year, more than $27 million for the same period in 2022, according to FT calculations.
Source: korrespondent
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