While Turkey is a longstanding NATO ally, its invasion of Northern Syria to target America’s Kurdish allies and purchase of a Russian missile system clearly show the deterioration of the U.S.-Turkey relationship. The U.S. should sanction Turkish officials involved in the invasion until it halts its operations against the Kurds to send a message that Turkey needs to start behaving like an ally.
Sanctioning Turkey for its invasion of Northern Syria will only worsen its relations with the U.S. and NATO, and make it more likely that Turkey continues to move closer to Russia. The U.S. has nothing to gain from interjecting itself in a long-running dispute between Turkey and the Kurds. Congress should consider the issues of Turkey’s invasion of Northern Syria and its purchase of Russian missiles separately.