Turkey will continue to import oil from Iranian-owned and -operated energy companies, in direct opposition to the latest round of economic sanctions levied against Tehran by the Trump White House, Ankara’s top diplomat said.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkish officials informed a visiting U.S. delegation, led by Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorist Financing Marshall Billingslea, that Iranian oil would continue to fuel Turkey.
Further, Ankara would not support the administration’s unilateral economic sanctions, issued in the wake of Washington’s withdrawal from the Obama-era nuclear deal with Tehran earlier this year, Mr. Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara on Tuesday.
“We have told them we will not join these sanctions. … We buy oil from Iran, and we purchase it in proper conditions. What is the other option?” Mr. Cavusoglu said during the media roundtable. “While we are explaining why we will not obey these sanctions, we have also expressed that we do not find these U.S. sanctions appropriate.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan doubled down on his foreign minister’s comments Wednesday, saying that “severing ties with global strategic partners goes against Turkey’s understanding of sovereignty,” referring to Ankara’s close ties to Tehran.
“Iran is both our neighbor and our strategic partner. There are so many developments based on mutual benefit,” he told reporters, shortly before departing for a diplomatic visit to South Africa, Anadolu news agency reported.
In the first three months of the year, Ankara imported 3 million tons of Iranian crude oil, representing 55 percent of the country’s total crude oil supply, as well as 27 percent of the country’s total energy imports, Anadolu reported.
The comments from Ankara defying American sanctions on Iran came a day after congressional lawmakers officially banned deliveries of the American-made F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to Turkish forces.
House and Senate conferees adopted the legislation, which prohibits shipments of the advanced, multi-role jet fighter to Ankara’s forces until the Pentagon delivers “an assessment of a significant change in Turkish participation in the F-35 program, including the potential elimination of such participation,” defense lawmakers wrote.
Defense lawmakers on Capitol Hill initiated the F-35 ban in response to Turkey’s efforts to buy and field the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system. Last week, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Tina Kaidanow warned Turkey of the “serious downside” to its proposed deal to buy the Russian-made anti-missile weapons, saying sanctions levied by Congress over the deal would only be the beginning if Ankara presses forward.
The State Department has yet to take action against Turkey, a NATO ally, over its plan to field the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system. Opponents of the S-400 inside and outside the Pentagon deal say Ankara’s decision to field the Russian-made anti-aircraft missile system will draw Turkey deeper into Moscow’s growing sphere of influence in the Middle East.
• Carlo Muñoz can be reached at cmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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