Four lawmakers representing the US Democratic and Republican parties have sent a letter to the country’s Secretary of Defense Mark Esper demanding the imposition of sanctions against Turkey for its purchase of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems from Russia. This was reported by the Yeniçağ Gazetesi newspaper.
The letter sent to the Secretary of Defense was signed by Democratic Senators Jeanne Shaheen, Chris Van Hollen, and Republicans Thom Tillis and James Lankford.
Shaheen published the letter on his Twitter page, attaching the following message: “We worked to turn the bill into law to show Erdogan that his steps aimed at weakening NATO and transatlantic security cannot be approved. Turkey’s removal from the F-35 fighter jet supply chain was the result of the efforts of both parties, the purpose of which was to ensure that Erdogan is held accountable, as well as to protect US technologies. The time has come for the authorities to immediately enforce this law,” Shaheen wrote.
It should be recalled that negotiations between the Russian Federation and Turkey over the purchase of S-400 systems first became known in November 2016, and the sales agreement was signed in September 2017. The value of the four acquired anti-aircraft missile system units amounted to 2.5 billion dollars.
