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What the Turkey sanctions meant for CAATSA
Summary
A retrospective on the US sanctions on Turkey over its purchase of Russia's S-400 missile defence system, announced on 14 December 2020.
What did it mean when Washington sanctioned a partner over a Russian weapons deal? On 18 December 2020, four days after the announcement, that question was still open.
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. It was the first time the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) had been used to penalise a US ally.
The law behind the move
CAATSA is a federal law that imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea and Russia, and 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.
Why it mattered
The law was written with Russia among its targets. Its application to Turkey, a US ally, over a purchase from Russia extended it to a new category of target. Taken together, the sanctions announced on 14 December 2020 set a precedent: buying Russian military hardware could now carry a penalty even for an ally.
