Trump's Bold Move: Sanctions Lifted on Key NATO Ally Turkey
President Trump's strong ties with Turkish President Erdoğan led to the lifting of sanctions on Turkey and a reversal of the F-35 jet policy. This relationship also influenced the resolution of the high-profile Reza Zarrab and Halkbank sanctions evasion case, raising questions about Justice Department independence and the nature of U.S. foreign relations.
President Donald Trump's effusive praise for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at a recent NATO summit, amidst tensions with other allied leaders, underscored a unique relationship. Trump publicly stated, "If it weren’t held in Turkey, where my friend happens to be a very strong leader — a very strong, uh, person — it’s possible that I wouldn’t have attended," while alongside Erdoğan. Following this, Trump announced the cancellation of sanctions on Turkey, which had been imposed under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. This act is designed to prevent foreign nations from engaging in business with entities in Russia, North Korea, and particularly Iran, which has been subject to U.S. and Israeli drone operations for several months. Notably, Trump simultaneously reimposed sanctions on Iran concerning oil sales, making the lifting of Turkish sanctions a significant concession to Erdoğan.
Beyond sanctions, Trump was also reportedly preparing to reverse his own six-year-old policy, allowing Turkey to purchase F-35 jets. This marked another milestone in the decadelong "bromance" between the two leaders, with a related development soon to unfold in New York. This concerns the long-running criminal case against Iranian-born gold trader Reza Zarrab in Manhattan federal court. Zarrab, arrested in 2016, had admitted in 2017 to aiding Iranians and their government in evading sanctions. He subsequently cooperated with the Justice Department, confessing to paying millions in bribes and providing crucial testimony against an executive of Halkbank, a state-owned Turkish lender.
Halkbank played a pivotal role in handling and transferring illicit Iranian oil revenue. Prosecutors announced in March an agreement with Halkbank to drop all charges, contingent on the bank ceasing transactions that benefit Iran. This news led to a surge in Halkbank's stock shares in Istanbul. Federal prosecutors are now advocating for a significant reduction in Zarrab's sentencing, scheduled for July 14. This outcome is widely seen as highly favorable for Erdoğan and his regime, which is frequently characterized as authoritarian and repressive, especially towards political adversaries.
The initial public stages of the Zarrab case during "Trump Term 1" were notably peculiar. Trump bypassed standard Justice Department protocols, deploying former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Attorney General and federal Judge Michael Mukasey as intermediaries. Their mission was to negotiate with Erdoğan, who had vocally condemned and actively lobbied against the Zarrab and Halkbank prosecutions in Washington. U.S. District Judge Richard Berman expressed his astonishment in 2018, stating, "I am still stunned by the fact that Rudy was hired to be — and he very actively pursued — being the ‘go between’ between President Trump and Turkey’s President Erdoğan in an unprecedented effort to terminate this federal criminal case in the middle of the case."
In the contemporary political landscape, a Trump-driven intervention in a pending case might appear less surprising. His tenure has been marked by actions that have challenged the independence of the Justice Department, fostering an environment where foreign relations are perceived less as objective diplomatic engagements and more as transactional dealings between leaders based on their personal interests. Reflecting this perspective, Trump told reporters regarding Turkey, "We’re going to be taking the sanctions off. It’s time to do that. Okay, you don’t want to sanction friends. It’s very simple."