President Trump has approved an executive order authorizing sanctions against Turkey in response to the NATO ally’s invasion of northern Syria.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced the “very significant new sanctions authorities” during a White House briefing Friday, saying sanctions could affect anyone working with the Turkish government, though sanctions have not yet been enacted.
“These are very powerful sanctions. We hope we don’t have to use them, but we can shut down the Turkish economy if we need to,” Mnuchin said. “We are putting financial institutions on notice that they should be careful, and that there could be sanctions.”
The White House said Sunday that U.S. troops would no longer be embedded with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in northern Syria. Turkey then attacked the U.S.-armed Kurds, who had helped defeat Islamic State terrorists.
“The president is concerned about the ongoing military offensive and potential targeting of civilians, civilian infrastructure, ethnic or religious minorities. And also the president wants to make very clear it is imperative that Turkey not allow even a single ISIS fighter to escape,” Mnuchin said.
The threat of sanctions against Turkey follows broad political blowback to the withdrawal of U.S. troops, particularly among Republican lawmakers who accused Trump of abandoning Kurdish allies. This week Trump warned Turkey not to do anything “off limits,” writing on Twitter he would “totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey.”
Mnuchin said he was unaware of whether Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would still visit the White House in November.
