Sanctions Bill on Turkey Overwhelmingly Passes House
A Turkey sanctions bill passed 403-16 on Oct. 29 in the House of Representatives, despite Turkey's decision to stop shelling a part of Syria near its border. The bill requires the government to impose financial sanctions on Halkbank, a Turkish-owned bank involved in Iranian sanctions evasions, which also employed a client of the president's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
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The bill bans sales of goods covered by the Arms Export Control Act that could be used in northern Syria, and it says the president may not use an emergency waiver to get around this ban.
It also would sanction some top Turkish government and military officials. A bipartisan bill imposing sanctions on Turkey also was introduced in the Senate (see 1910170054). House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., issued a statement after the vote, saying, “President Trump’s disastrous decision to abandon our Kurdish allies and withdraw our forces from northern Syria emboldened Turkey to act. It is critical that Congress makes clear that the American people do not approve of its incursion or the President’s decision -- and that we will not sit idly by as it worsens an already bad situation on the ground in Syria."