US Senator Graham: Trump’s Decision will be Game Changer for Turkey

* Photo: AA

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Having announced that they reached an agreement with Democrat Senator Chris van Hollen to sanction Turkey over its operation into northern Syria, US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has stated that US President Donald Trump has decided to "work with Congress to stop Turkey's aggression in Syria through crippling economic sanctions".

"This decision by President Trump will be a game changer -- in all the wrong ways -- for Turkey", the Senator has indicated further.

Lindsey Graham has shared the following messages on Twitter:

"Just spoke with President Donald Trump. I applaud his decision to work with Congress to stop Turkey's aggression in Syria through crippling economic sanctions. This decision by President Trump will be a game changer -- in all the wrong ways -- for Turkey.

"It is imperative that we stop the bloodshed and stabilize northeastern Syria to prevent the reemergence of ISIS and the rise of Iran."

Just spoke with President @realdonaldTrump.

I applaud his decision to work with Congress to stop Turkeys aggression in Syria through crippling economic sanctions.

This decision by President Trump will be a game changer -- in all the wrong ways -- for Turkey.

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) October 13, 2019

Minister Mnuchin: We are ready to put on sanctions

In an interview with ABC, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has responded to allegation that "the US delays imposing sanctions on Turkey".

Indicating that the US is "ready to go at a moment's notice to put on sanctions", Mnuchin has said that the sanctions "could be starting small, they could be maximum pressure, which would destroy the Turkish economy."

As reported by CNN, less than an hour after this statement, Trump has tweeted that he is working with the members of Congress about "imposing powerful Sanctions on Turkey. "Stay tuned", the President has written.

What happened?

On October 10, US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham announced that they drafted a bipartisan sanctions bill against Turkey over its "Operation Peace Spring" launched into northern Syria on October 9.

Sharing a message on his Twitter account, Senator Graham indicated that they had reached an agreement with Democrat Senator Chris van Hollen on imposing sanctions against Turkey.

The sanctions bill foresees sanctions on the US assets of leading politicians in Turkey, including President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Vice, President Fuat Oktay, Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Minister of Treasury and Finance Berat Albayrak, Minister of Trade Ruhsar Pekcan, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Dönmez.

One day later, on October 11, 29 Republican Congress members from the US House of Representatives announced that they would introduce a similar bill to sanction Turkey over its Syria operation.

Republican Leader in the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy, Republican Whip Representative Steve Scalise and other party leaders argued that the operation of Ankara should be met with a strong reaction. (TP/SD)