OREANDA-NEWS. The US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations approved a bill that requires sanctions against Turkey. The document is published on the Congress website.

As committee member Robert Menendez, a New Jersey senator, wrote on Twitter, “this bill makes clear to Turkey that its behavior with respect to Syria is unacceptable, and its purchase of the S-400 system is untenable.”

The bill calls for sanctions against Ankara for the purchase of Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems in accordance with the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act adopted in August 2017.

The document implies limiting the sale of American weapons to Turkey and obliges to impose sanctions against the country’s top officials: the Minister of National Defense, the Chief of the General Staff and the Minister of Treasury and Finance. It is also proposed to impose restrictions on foreign citizens supplying the Turkish army with weapons that can be used in operations in Syria.

The members of the Committee propose to introduce restrictive measures against Halkbank and other financial organizations, which, according to Washington, knowingly facilitate transactions related to the military operation in Syria.

Congressmen want to demand from the US State Department a report on Turkey’s participation in NATO, in particular an assessment of the country's contribution to the alliance since joining it in 1952 and the role of Ankara in the future, including the ability to fulfill all 14 articles of the North Atlantic Treaty.

The bill should be considered by the US Senate.