President Trump on Monday said he would “soon” be issuing an executive order to impose sanctions on Turkey for invading Syria — which happened days after he announced the US was clearing the way by pulling its troops from northern Syria.
The US, he said, would hike sanctions on Turkish steel and “immediately stop negotiations” with Turkey over what he called a $100 billion trade deal.
“Turkey’s military offensive is endangering civilians and threatens peace, security and stability in the region,” he said in a statement he posted on Twitter.
“I have been perfectly clear with [Turkish] President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan: Turkey’s action is precipitating a humanitarian crisis and setting conditions for possible war crimes.
“Unfortunately, Turkey does not seem to be mitigating the humanitarian effects of its invasion,” read the statement.
And he repeated his threat that he was “perfectly willing to swiftly destroy Turkey’s economy” unless Turkey’s leaders changed course.
Erdogan ordered the invasion after a phone call with Trump in which the president agreed to withdraw US troops to make way for his forces, who are targeting America’s former Kurdish allies in the fight to defeat ISIS.
Source: Read Full Article