Senators call on administration to impose sanctions on Turkey over S-400s

The Honorable Mike Pompeo
U.S. Secretary of State
United States Department of state
Washington, DC 20520

Dear Secretary Pompeo,

We write concerning public reports that Turkey has activated the radars of its Russian-made S- 400 anti-aircraft system, in order to detect U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets returning from the Eunomia exercise conducted by France, Italy, Greece and Cyprus in late August in response to Turkey’s unwarranted aggression in the Eastern Mediterranean. Reports also suggest that Turkey may plan a general test of the S-400 system near the city of Sinop. Last year, Turkish F-16 jets flew over Ankara as a part of a test of the S-400 system, which administration officials indicated could allow Russia a backdoor to spy on NATO allies.

To-date, the administration has not imposed sanctions on Turkey for its purchase of the S-400 under Section 231 of the Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (P.L. 115- 44). Reports of this activation make clear that Turkey has no intention of reversing course and divesting of this system. Additionally, the slow pace at which the Department of Defense is moving to remove Turkey from the F-35 supply chain has no doubt emboldened President Erdogan. Turkey’s recent reported activation of the S-400 system to detect the U.S. F-16 underscores our grave concerns about Russia’s ability to access sensitive data.

Given this information, we again urge you to impose sanctions on Turkey as required by law. In addition, we request the following information by October 14:

Did Turkey activate the S-400 to detect F-16 fighter jets returning from the Eunomia exercise?

Has Turkey integrated the Link 16, NATO’s tactical data link, into the S-400 system? If so, could this integration enable Russia to gather information on NATO allies?

Sincerely,

Chris Van Hollen
United States Senator

James Lankford

United States Senator