The Turkish lira was strengthened from 5.7877 to 5.7357 after President Erdogan said his nation will have “sanctions of our own” as he warned Washington to tread carefully over imposing action against Ankara. TRY had lost some ground to trade at 5.7655 by 2.12pm BST. The spike in price came after President Erdogan stood defiant against the purchase of the S-400 missile systems from Russia, adding the arrangement was a “done deal”. It is understood the missile system is expected to arrive in Turkey as early as next month.
Should the US decide to issue sanctions against Turkey, any action would come under CATSAA, a law calling for action against countries procuring military equipment from Russia, according to Bloomberg.
The most severe package under discussion would target several companies in Turkey’s defence sector with sanctions that would effectively sever them from the US financial system.
This would effectively make it almost impossible for them to buy American components or sell their products in the United States.
Speaking in Istanbul today, President Erdogan said he did not expect President Donald Trump to push through with his sanction threat.
He said: “I say this very openly and sincerely, our relations with (President Donald) Trump are at a place that I can call really good…
“In the event of any issues, we immediately work the phones.
“I do not see any possibility of these sanctions happening.”
But he said Turkey would not remain silent if they were imposed.
The President added: “The US has to think about this very carefully.
“We will have sanctions of our own.”
He said he would discuss the issue with President Trump at the G20 summit in Japan at the end of the month.
President Erdogan said while he enjoyed good ties with President Trump, he could not say the same about relations between Ankara and other US officials.
He said: “When we have talks with those below Trump, we see that many cannot agree with our officials, and one example is the S-400 issue.”
A senior Turkish official claimed President Trump had been invited to Turkey for a face-to-face meeting.
The official told Reuters: “We are working on the calendar now.
“We have some positive signals but the time has not been scheduled yet.
“They may meet on the margins of G20 in Japan as well.
“For a bilateral visit, we are waiting for an exact date.”