After Syria incursion, White House mulls sanctions on Erdogan

The US administration is expected to announce an unspecified package of sanctions against Turkey today, Bloomberg has reported. The news came after Al-Monitor reported that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was among a list of officials and entities under consideration for sanctions. 

The administration has been weighing whether to add Erdogan to a proposed list of Turkish officials and entities to be sanctioned over NATO ally Turkey’s military incursion into northern Syria, an administration official and a source with close knowledge of the administration’s policy-making told Al-Monitor. The administration sanctioning the Turkish president would deliver a huge, and potentially irreversible blow to over half a century of strategic partnership between the two countries and place Erdogan and his government in the same basket as Iran and Venezuela, the source who is privy to the administration’s deliberations told Al-Monitor. The Bloomberg report did not mention the president nor did it specify who or what entities if any were designated but said the sanctions were awaiting President Donald Trump's approval.

The official, who asked not to be identified to speak freely, confirmed that Erdogan’s name had come up in discussions on whether to impose sanctions on Turkey for its actions in northern Syria. “I heard Erdogan’s name being discussed,” the US official said. “I have not heard other names,” the official said when pressed for other Turkish officials under consideration for sanctions.

The sanctions could come as early as Tuesday if the administration decides to push the button. If it does, it will raise the question of whether Erdogan will travel to Washington to meet with Trump on Nov. 13 — Trump announced the invitation via Twitter — and whether the invitation would be withdrawn.