Fidan: Turkey and the US will begin discussions on lifting anti-Turkish sanctions

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has announced that in March Ankara intends to discuss with Washington the prospect of lifting anti-Turkish restrictions, including on the margins of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), a U.S. federal law.

“The inclusion of Turkey in the law passed in the U.S. does not align with our allied relations and is incompatible with the spirit of the alliance between the two NATO countries,” the diplomat noted, adding that the two countries will soon start working on the issue.

Regarding President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Fidan noted that “a new chapter is opening for the U.S. administration, but we need to see whether the old entries will remain in this chapter or if there will be new entries.” “As you know, there has been very intense diplomatic work with the outgoing administration, especially in the last year and a half; the mechanism of strategic partnership has started to work again, and some progress has been made on certain issues,” Fidan stated.

Ankara has previously been subjected to restrictions under CAATSA due to the purchase of the S-400 air defense system. Sanctions have been imposed on the Defense Industry Agency and some of its officials.