Turkey Work Underway to Counter U.S. Sanctions, Official Says

(Bloomberg) -- Turkey is working on its own counter-measures against anticipated U.S. sanctions over the purchase of the S-400 Russian missile-defense system under orders from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a senior Turkish official said on Friday.

Turkey is analyzing products imported from and exported to the U.S. as part of its possible response, the official said on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the matter.

Turkey is ready to bear any consequences of its move to defend its independence and freedom, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Friday.

“We’re already working on measures under the leadership of our president,” Cavusoglu told state-run Anadolu Agency during a televised interview. “There is no understanding such as ‘let’s sit silent and shut up’ in the face of U.S. decisions.”

“If the U.S. takes negative steps toward us, then we will have steps to take as well,” Cavusoglu said. Turkey won’t step back from its purchase of the S-400 missiles in any way and is ready to bear any consequences of its decision, he said.

“We will maintain our determination to be an independent and free country,” he said. The lira extended losses to more than 1% after Cavusoglu’s remarks.

The U.S. has threatened to end Turkey’s participation in the F-35 jet program by July 31 if the NATO ally doesn’t scrap the deal to buy the S-400 system, which the U.S. is concerned would be capable of collecting intelligence on the warplane’s stealth capabilities.

The U.S. has also warned Turkey that it could separately face sanctions under two pieces of legislation: the Magnitsky Act and CAATSA, which allows the punishment of entities doing business with parts of the Russian state.

To contact the reporters on this story: Firat Kozok in Ankara at fkozok@bloomberg.net;Selcan Hacaoglu in Ankara at shacaoglu@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Onur Ant at oant@bloomberg.net, Colin Keatinge

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