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Calling Trump's bluff, Erdogan says US sanctions will not happen
[Al Jazeera] Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important...
has said the United States will refrain from imposing sanctions on The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
over Ankara's planned purchase of a missile defence system from Russia. But he pledged to retaliate if the punitive measures do materialise.

Speaking at a rare news conference for foreign media in Istanbul, Erdogan repeated on Thursday that the purchase of Russian S-400 systems was a "done deal" and said the US should think carefully before imposing sanctions on Turkey, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
).

"I say this very openly and sincerely, our relations with [US President Donald] Trump are at a place that I can call really good," Erdogan said. "In the event of any issues, we immediately work the phones."

"I do not see any possibility of these sanctions happening," Erdogan added. But he said Turkey would respond proportionately. "The US has to think about this very carefully. We will have sanctions of our own."

However,
some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves...
some experts say Trump will have no choice but to slap sanctions on Turkey under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), a 2017 Congressional bill penalising any entity that has purchased military equipment from an American foe.

"If Turkey takes delivery of the S-400, the CAATSA legislation directs the president to impose sanctions on Turkey for buying defence articles from Russia," said Steven Cook, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. "The legislation gives the president the option of choosing five of 12 areas where he 'shall' apply sanctions."

But Cook told Al Jazeera that "the president can apply sanctions and immediately suspend [them] for 180 days for an unlimited amount of times...There may be sanctions and no sanctions all at the same time".
An Nahar adds:
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday he will use his "good" relationship with U.S. leader Donald Trump
...Oh, noze!...
to try to defuse a crisis between the NATO allies over Ankara's purchase of Russian missiles.

Erdogan and Trump are due to meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, at the end of June, a month before a US deadline to Turkey to renounce its deal with Moscow for the S-400s.

During a rare foreign media briefing in Istanbul, Erdogan insisted on his affinity with Trump, and drew a distinction between the US president and the administration.
How terribly, terribly clever of him, to be sure.
Erdogan said his close relationship with Trump could allow for a favourable outcome to reduce tensions that have poisoned relations between the allies for several months.

"Our relations with Trump are at a level that I would describe as good. We discuss matters when there is a problem, we conduct telephone diplomacy," Erdogan said.

The Turkish head of state said he would ask Trump during their meeting at the G-20 whether he felt sanctions against Turkey were suitable.

"I am sure he does not believe this," Erdogan said, add that he did "not see such sanctions happening".

Posted by: Fred 2019-06-21
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=543832