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What the CAATSA sanctions on Turkey meant
Summary
A retrospective on the US decision, announced on 14 December 2020, to penalise a NATO-era ally over its purchase of Russian missile defence.
What was the world looking at on 20 December 2020, days after Washington took an unusual step against a partner? On 14 December 2020, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the United States had imposed sanctions on Turkey over its acquisition of the S-400 missile defence system from Russia.
The measure was notable for its legal basis. It was the first time the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, known as CAATSA, had been used to penalise a US ally.
The law behind the move
CAATSA is a US federal law that imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea and Russia. It works by preventing US companies from doing business with sanctioned entities. The Senate passed it on 27 July 2017 by 98 votes to 2, after the House approved it by 419 to 3. President Donald Trump signed it on 2 August 2017, though he believed the legislation was seriously flawed.
By 20 December 2020, the Turkish case therefore stood as a test of a law originally aimed at Moscow and other adversaries, now applied over a deal between Ankara and Moscow.
