Mnuchin Says It’s Not Too Late to Sanction Turkey Over Syria
Mnuchin Says It's Not Too Late to Sanction Turkey Over Syria
(Bloomberg) -- Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said there’s still time to impose meaningful sanctions on Turkey over its military actions in Syria amid lawmaker criticism that the U.S.’s response is too weak.
”It’s definitely not too late,” Mnuchin said in response to a question from reporters early Monday outside the White House. “Turkey is a full member of NATO and an ally of ours who is now fighting over border issues with the Kurds who have helped us with ISIS. It’s a complicated situation and we’re monitoring it.”
Mnuchin said he and other top-level officials were set to brief Trump later Monday and that “when he makes the decision, we’ll act on it.”
Turkish markets tumbled amid mounting fears about punitive measures from Washington. The lira joined the retreat, despite efforts by state banks to support the currency.
Stocks plunged more than 5%, two-year domestic bond yields soared as much as 66 basis points and the lira’s one-month implied yield was poised for its biggest jump since March.
President Donald Trump on Friday gave his Treasury and State departments authority to impose new sanctions on Turkey, which earlier this month sent in troops to Syria and started attacking American-allied Kurdish militias.
But the Trump administration is not imposing any sanctions at this time. Trump has come under sharp criticism from Republican lawmakers recently after pulling back some U.S. forces in northern Syria. That cleared the way for Turkey to send its troops into the country and attack American-allied Kurdish militias.
“The conditional sanctions announced today will be viewed by Turkey as a tepid response and will embolden Erdogan even more,” Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said in a statement. “The Turkish government needs to know Congress will take a different path – passing crippling sanctions in a bipartisan fashion.”
--With assistance from Saleha Mohsin, Constantine Courcoulas and Asli Kandemir.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jordan Fabian in New York at jfabian6@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Kathleen Hunter, Caitlin Webber
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