Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered to secretly block the export of military goods of American origin to Russia. This happened against the background of a warning from the official Washington about possible "consequences" for Ankara.
Points of attention
- US pressure has affected Turkey's customs system.
- This led to the blocking of more than 40 categories of goods of American origin entering the Russian Federation.
- Turkish banks refused to do business with Russian counterparties due to the threat of sanctions from the US.
Turkey fulfilled the US demand regarding Russia
According to insiders, Erdogan's team has been forced to make changes to its customs system over the past few months.
Against this background, Ankara has blocked the export of more than 40 categories of goods of American origin, which the White House considers vital to Putin's war machine.
An anonymous source explained to reporters that as of today, Turkey's electronic customs system no longer allows exporters to send consignments of military equipment, even though they could be delivered before.
The publication was also able to learn that trade restrictions affecting civilian components such as microcircuits and remote control systems, which Western allies believe are used in weapons, have not been made public due to "political sensitivity".
The US is trying to control Ankara's actions
It is also worth paying attention to the fact that Turkish banks sharply reduced business with Russian counterparties in 2024.
It came just as the United States issued a decree threatening sanctions against lenders that process transactions for the Kremlin's war machine.
Joe Biden's team has long been concerned that Ankara is being used as an intermediary through which an aggressor country gets access to military goods, a suspicion that has clouded relations between the two countries.
As mentioned earlier, a few months ago official Washington threatened Ankara with serious consequences if the country does not stop exporting to Russia American equipment that can be used for military purposes.
